Department of Health and Social Care

NHS: Expenditure

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much was spent in the main categories of NHS commissioner spending as recorded centrally by NHS England for (a) acute, (b) mental Health, (c) community care, (d) continuing care and (e) primary care by clinical commissioning group in (i) 2015-16, (ii) 2016-17 and (iii) 2017-18.

Stephen Hammond: The following table is a summary of the aggregated amount spent in the main categories of National Health Service commissioner spending, as recorded centrally by NHS England, for acute, mental health, community care, continuing care and primary care in 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18. The data was provided by NHS England. NHS England do not hold clinical commissioning group (CCG) level spending data across all of these categories for all CCGs. Type of CareAmount Spent 2015-16Amount Spent 2016-17Amount Spent 2017-2018Acute£38,247 million£40,107 million£41,411 millionMental health£7,301 million£7,627 million£8,053 millionCommunity£7,088 million£7,115 million£7,348 millionContinuing£4,297 million£4,582 million£4,547 millionPrimary£12,124 million£13,870 million£16,474 million

NHS: Vacancies

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the level of staff shortages across the NHS.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to tackle NHS workforce shortages.

Stephen Hammond: The National Health Service employs record numbers of staff, in 2018 - over 1.2 million or 1,074,209 full time equivalents. This is an increase of 63,100 since May 2010, with more staff than at any other time in its 70 year history and significant growth in newly qualified staff over the period from 2010. As at 30 September 2018, there were almost 103,000 healthcare vacancies in the NHS, which are largely filled by agency and bank staff. In 2018 we committed to:- increasing NHS funding by an average of 3.4% per year, meaning that by 2023/24 the NHS will receive £20.5 billion a year more than it currently does;- giving around one million NHS staff a well-deserved pay rise, with all staff receiving at least a 3% pay increase by the end of 2018/2019;- increasing the number of training places for doctors, nurses and midwives, with more general practitioners than ever starting training in the NHS this year; and- we are delivering an additional 1,500 undergraduate medical places, including an additional 90 places at Hull York Medical School and as part of the expansion opening five new medical schools across England. The NHS Long Term Plan, published on 7 January 2019, sets out a vital strategic framework to ensure that over the next 10 years the NHS will have the staff it needs so that nurses and doctors have the time they need to care, working in a supportive culture that allows them to provide the expert compassionate care they are committed providing. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has commissioned Baroness Dido Harding, working closely with Sir David Behan, to lead a number of programmes to engage with key NHS interests to develop a detailed workforce implementation plan. These programmes will consider detailed proposals to grow the workforce rapidly, including consideration of additional staff and skills required, build a supportive working culture in the NHS and ensure first rate leadership for NHS staff.

Department of Health and Social Care: Brexit

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: This Government has been clear that we do not want or expect a ‘no deal’ scenario. However, it is the duty of a responsible Government to continue to prepare for a range of potential outcomes, including the event of ‘no deal’. The Department has undertaken extensive work to prepare for a ‘no deal’ scenario, including contingency planning, and we continue to take the necessary steps to ensure the country continues to operate smoothly from the day we leave. The Department is working with its partners across Government, arm’s length bodies and industry, to ensure that all relevant parties are prepared for exiting the European Union. The quality and safety of patient care is paramount in our preparedness plans. The Government is working to mitigate the impact of any potential delays at borders if there is ‘no deal’. Our planning aims to ensure that from the day the United Kingdom leaves the EU, we will have the necessary resources in place to maintain uninterrupted supplies of medicines and medical products. Over the course of August, September and October 2018, the Government published a series of technical notices, eight of which are specific to the health and care sector. Since then, we have published further guidance on preparing for a ‘no deal’ scenario. In preparation for the possibility of a ‘no deal’ exit, the Department, with the support of NHS England and Improvement and Public Health England, has set up a national Operational Response Centre (ORC), which is structured to be able to respond to any impacts on health and social care. This will lead on responding to disruptions to delivery and co-ordinate reporting across the health and care system; the Department has a wide pool of trained staff available to support this if needed. The ORC will work with the devolved administrations to respond to United Kingdom-wide incidents where appropriate.

Alcoholic Drinks: Minimum Prices

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his timescale is for Public Health England's assessment of the effectiveness of minimum unit pricing in Scotland.

Steve Brine: The timescale for any assessment of the effectiveness of minimum unit pricing in Scotland will be driven by the availability of robust empirical evidence from its implementation.

Pregnancy: Alcoholic Drinks

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure midwives are aware of the Chief Medical Officers’ advice that it is safest not to drink alcohol during pregnancy.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure midwives communicate the Chief Medical Officers’ advice that it is safest not to drink alcohol during pregnancy.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department has  allocated to training for midwives on the Chief Medical Officers’ advice that it is safest not to drink alcohol during pregnancy.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department has allocated to training for health care professionals on the Chief Medical Officers’ advice that it is safest not to drink alcohol during pregnancy.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to inform the public of the Chief Medical Officers’ advice that it is safest not to drink alcohol during pregnancy.

Steve Brine: Midwives and other health professionals have a professional duty to keep up to date with evidence based advice on lifestyle issues to support the patients in their care. Every maternity service in the National Health Service is also actively implementing elements of the Saving Babies’ Lives Care Bundle. This programme covers a range of initiatives that seek to raise awareness of the known risk factors among pregnant women and health professionals, including the importance of not drinking alcohol. Current Nursing and Midwifery Council standards highlight the importance of communicating with women to help them make informed choices about their health and health care. This includes ensuring midwives and healthcare professionals are aware of the UK Chief Medical Officers’ Low Risk Drinking Guidelines. No dedicated funding has been allocated by the Department for this purpose. Public Health England’s Start4Life social marketing programme informs pregnant women of the risks associated with consuming alcohol during pregnancy through its website, social media channels and direct emails. The Start4Life website is available to view at the following link: www.nhs.uk/start4life/pregnancy/alcohol/ In March 2017, the Government issued guidance setting out how the low risk drinking guidelines can best be communicated on the labels of alcoholic drinks. This guidance sets out the core elements of the guidelines that the Government would wish to see communicated to the public and is available at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/publications/communicating-the-uk-chief-medical-officers-alcohol-guidelines

Drugs: Death

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has held discussions with representatives of (a) drug support charities and (b) other organisations on the level of drug-related deaths in relation to the abstinence and recovery agenda set out the Drug Strategy.

Steve Brine: Public Health England regularly holds discussions with representatives of drug charities and other organisations on drug-related deaths. This includes convening a national intelligence network on the health harms associated with drug use. Member organisations include providers of drug treatment services, and national professional and membership bodies. The network exchanges intelligence on drug-related deaths, and explores how to use this intelligence to inform commissioning and practice.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle alcohol-related health inequalities in England.

Steve Brine: Public Health England produces a suite of products on the Fingertips website that provide local data alongside national comparisons to support local health improvement and an intelligence-driven approach to understanding and meeting local need, including the Local Alcohol Profiles for England which is available at the following link: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/local-alcohol-profiles The aim of these profiles is to provide information for local government, health organisations, commissioners and other agencies to monitor the impact of alcohol on local communities and to monitor the services and initiatives that have been put in place to prevent and reduce the harmful impact of alcohol. Inequalities data are included wherever possible in order to allow organisations to assess the extent of variation in alcohol-related harm.

Alcoholic Drinks: Rehabilitation

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase funding for treatment of alcohol misuse.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase access to treatment for alcohol misuse.

Steve Brine: The Government has made available £16 billion for public health services, including alcohol treatment services, over the current Spending Review period. Decisions on funding for services to treat alcohol misuse are the responsibility of local authorities, based on an assessment of local need. The public health grant conditions make it clear that local authorities must have regard for the need to improve the take up of, and outcomes from, their drug and alcohol misuse treatment services. Alcohol treatment services are freely available across England and local authorities are supported by Public Health England in the commissioning of high quality, evidence based treatment services to fulfil the needs of their local populations.

Immigration: General Practitioners

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many new migrants have registered with general practitioners since 2015.

Stephen Hammond: The Department does not hold this information.

NHS Trusts: Greater London

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the amount of capital funding which will be allocated to each NHS trust in London in each year between 2019 and 2022.

Stephen Hammond: The Department provides some specific central support in the form of capital loans and public dividend capital. The details of all financial assistance provided by the Department to individual National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts, including capital loans and public dividend capital, under section 40 of the National Health Service Act 2006 are published annually alongside the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts. The largest centrally allocated capital programme over the period to 2022 is the sustainability and transformation partnerships (STP) capital programme. The following table shows the announced value of capital investment in STP schemes for London NHS trusts. The breakdown of funding in individual years will be determined - once they complete the standard full business case process.Lead organisationSTP SchemeCapital from STP Funding to 2022/23 (£000)Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health TrustChildren and Adolesent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Tier 4. 3 new beds300Camden and Islington NHS Foundation TrustSt Pancras - transformation of mental health and substance misuse services86,0001Central and North West London Foundation TrustCAMHS Tier 4. Kingswood Hospital. Five additional beds for people with learning difficulties/autistic spectrum disorders2,090Central and North West London Foundation TrustCAMHS Tier 4. 12 additional beds2,100Central and North West London NHS Foundation TrustNorthwick Park Mental Health Wards - Single Bedrooms Reconfiguration520Central and North West London NHS Foundation TrustOak Tree Ward - Woodlands Mental Health Wards Reconfiguration, Hillingdon502Central and North West London NHS Foundation TrustPond Ward - Park Royal Mental Health Wards Reconfiguration2,350Croydon Health Services NHS TrustSouth West London Acute Providers consolidation of the three procurement functions into a single shared service, purchase to pay system, inventory management, and IT and telephony equipment2,149Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation TrustPatient Centric Supply Chain10,500Imperial College NHS TrustThe Development of an Endovascular Hybrid Theatre1,865Kingston NHS Foundation TrustPatient Flow Transformation Programme3,444London North West University Healthcare NHS TrustRe-provision of eight compliant theatres27,030Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation TrustProject Oriel - a new eye care, research and education facility18,2481South London and Maudsley Foundation TrustCAMHS Tier 4. Eight additional beds for people with learning difficulties/autistic spectrum disorders. Beds would open December 20182,700South West London and St George’s NHS Mental Health TrustEMP Enabler - New Care Home7,100South West London and St George's NHS Mental Health TrustBarnes Medical Centre development of a healthcare facility to provide mental health outpatient services, an extended range of general practice services, and a range of other community services11,100London Ambulance ServiceAddition of 25 Double Crewed Ambulance vehicles is expected to receive all their £3,849,000 funding in 2018-19.3,8492 Notes:1Further funding is beyond the period to 2022-23 and contributions will also be from other funding sources. Part of the Camden and Islington funding is in the form of a bridging loan in advance of land disposal receipts.2All funding for this scheme expected to be provided in 2018-19. In addition, future funding has been allocated for some large capital schemes to specific London providers and as follows: University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust- there remains around £52.6 million available which was allocated specifically for the introduction of proton beam therapy; and- there remains around £96.9 million available for the ongoing development of the haematology and short stay surgery, and head and neck services.

Mental Health Services

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled, A Mental Health Act fit for tomorrow, an agenda for reform, published by published by the Mental Health Alliance in June 2017, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the conclusion that the average waiting time of assessment by patients with severe mental illness is 14 weeks.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Information on the average waiting time of assessment for patients with severe mental illness is not collected. The waiting time standard for people with first episode psychosis is for 60% to start treatment in an Early Intervention in Psychosis service within two weeks of referral. In 2017/18 this standard was exceeded, with 76.2% of people accessing services within two weeks in November 2018.

Mental Health Services

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to introduce waiting time standards for adults accessing treatments in secondary mental health services.

Jackie Doyle-Price: In line with its commitments in the Long Term Plan, NHS England will be testing four-week waiting times for adult and older adult community mental health teams, with selected local areas. This will help build NHS England’s understanding of how best to introduce ambitious but achievable improvements in access, quality of care and outcomes. Clear standards will then be set for patients requiring access to community mental health treatment and rolled out across the National Health Service over the next decade. Waiting time standards are already in place for Early Intervention in Psychosis. 76.2% of patients with first episode psychosis started treatment within two weeks in November 2018. Performance is above the waiting time standard, which will increase from 50% of patients in 2017/18 to 60% by 2020/21 as part of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, and is 53% in 2018/19.

Mental Health Services

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons that mental health services place limits on (a) how long patients can receive care and (b) the number of sessions they receive.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Decisions on length of treatment and number of sessions for specific mental health services, are based on clinical need. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines are in place which set out these requirements in detail.

Mental Health Services

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 36 of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, whether each of the access to treatment pathways will (a) be published in the timetable set out and (b) will include waiting time targets.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Five of the clinical pathways referred to on page 36 of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health have been published to date. These are for early intervention in psychosis, urgent and emergency liaison mental health services, services for children and young people with eating disorders, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies pathway for long term conditions, and the perinatal mental health pathway. Two more pathways, those focusing on crisis and acute mental health, and children and young people’s mental health care, are under development. The remaining pathways are being reviewed to ensure they align with the new commitments and direction set out in the NHS Long Term Plan. NHS England has not confirmed the date of publication for these remaining pathways. The NHS Long Term Plan has committed to specific waiting times targets for emergency mental health services which will take effect for the first time from 2020, and will be set to align with the equivalent targets for emergency physical health services. The Long Term Plan also contains commitments to test and roll out comprehensive waiting time standards for adults and children over the next decade.

Cervical Cancer

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to support Cervical Cancer Prevention Week 2019.

Steve Brine: Public Health England (PHE) is working closely with the charity, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, who lead on Cervical Cancer Prevention Week, and we will be supporting them by our own social media activity. The Department will be supporting PHE’s activity. NHS England plans to support Cervical Cancer Prevention Week this year with proactive social media activity, including support for Jo’s Trust’s #SmearforSmear campaign to help reinforce the importance of women attending their regular check-ups. In March 2019, PHE will launch a national campaign to highlight the risks of cervical cancer to encourage women to attend their cervical screening appointment.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the median age of women undergoing IVF who had 1-9 eggs collected and had fresh embryos transferred in fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the median age of women undergoing IVF who had 10-14 eggs collected and had fresh embryos transferred in fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the median age has been of women undergoing IVF who had 15 to 20 eggs collected and had fresh embryos transferred in fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the median age has been of women undergoing IVF who had 21 or more eggs collected and had fresh embryos transferred in fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is shown in the following table: Median age of woman: eggs collected and fresh embryos transferredYear of egg collection1 to 9 eggs collected10-14 eggs collected15 to 20 eggs collected21 or more eggs collected201336343333201436343333201536343333201636343433201736353433Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) The data is as shown on the HFEA’s register database on 8 January 2019. This is a live database so these figures reflect the data on this day and are likely to change over time.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the median age has been of women undergoing IVF who had 1-9 eggs collected and had fresh embryos that were allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the median age has been of women undergoing IVF who had 10-14 eggs collected and had fresh embryos that were allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the median age has been of women undergoing IVF who had 15-20 eggs collected and had fresh embryos that were allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the median age has been of women undergoing IVF who had 21 or more eggs collected and had fresh embryos that were allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is shown in the following table: Median age of woman: eggs collected and embryos were allowed to perishYear of egg collection1 to 9 eggs collected10-14 eggs collected15 to 20 eggs collected21 or more eggs collected201336343433201436343333201536343333201636343433201736353433Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) The data is as shown on the HFEA’s register database on 8 January 2019. This is a live database so these figures reflect the data on this day and are likely to change over time.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the median age has been of women undergoing IVF who had 1-9 eggs collected and had frozen embryos transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the median age has been of women undergoing IVF who had 10-14 eggs collected and had frozen embryos transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the median age has been of women undergoing IVF who had 15-20 eggs collected and had frozen embryos transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the median age has been of women undergoing IVF who had 21 or more eggs collected and had frozen embryos transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is shown in the following table: Median age of woman: eggs collected and frozen embryos transferredYear of egg collection1 to 9 eggs collected10-14 eggs collected15 to 20 eggs collected21 or more eggs collected201334333332201434333332201535343332201635343332201735343332Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) The data is as shown on the HFEA’s register database on 8 January 2019. This is a live database so these figures reflect the data on this day and are likely to change over time.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the median age has been of women undergoing IVF who had 1-9 eggs collected and had frozen embryos allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the median age has been of women undergoing IVF who had 10-14 eggs collected and had frozen embryos allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the median age has been of women undergoing IVF who had 15-20 eggs collected and who had frozen embryos allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the median age has been of women undergoing IVF who had 21 or more eggs collected and had frozen embryos allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is shown in the following table: Median age of woman: eggs collected and frozen embryos allowed to perishYear of egg collection1 to 9 eggs collected10 to 14 eggs collected15 to 20 eggs collected21 or more eggs collected201334333331201434333332201535343332201635343332201735343332Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) The data is as shown on the HFEA’s register database on 8 January 2019. This is a live database so these figures reflect the data on this day and are likely to change over time.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of IVF cycles where 1-9 eggs were collected and fresh embryos were transferred in fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of IVF cycles where 10-14 eggs were collected and fresh embryos were transferred in fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of IVF cycles where 15-20 eggs were collected and fresh embryos were transferred in fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of IVF cycles where 21 or more eggs were collected and fresh embryos were transferred in fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is shown in the following table: Number of in vitro fertilisation cycles: eggs collected and fresh embryos transferredYear of egg collection1 to 9 eggs collected10-14 eggs collected15 to 20 eggs collected21 or more eggs collected201319,97310,8575,9952,113201420,10810,6365,7911,948201519,67910,4015,5301,926201619,8139,8325,0881,753201718,9639,7145,1501,765Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) The data is as shown on the HFEA’s register database on 8 January 2019. This is a live database so these figures reflect the data on this day and are likely to change over time.

NHS: Drugs

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the Commercial Framework outlined in the 2019 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access.

Steve Brine: NHS England, with input from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, will develop a ’commercial framework’ setting out the parameters for the commercial approach for medicines in the health service in England. This framework will be tested with and informed through consultation with stakeholders once the voluntary scheme is operational. The intention is to publish the framework early in 2019.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to ensure that women prescribed hormone replacement therapy comprising of oestrogen and progesterone that are combined together are only required to pay one prescription charge.

Steve Brine: Unless a valid exemption has been declared, the statutory applicable charge of £8.80 is payable for each prescription item, such as a quantity of a drug, dispensed in the community in England. The Government has no plans to change this position in respect of combination packs of hormone replacement therapy medication comprised of multiple drugs.

Prescriptions: EU Countries

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of UK issued prescriptions which are dispensed in EU countries in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Steve Brine: No such estimate has been made. Data on prescriptions issued in the United Kingdom and dispensed in other European Union countries is not collected centrally. Information held by the NHS Business Services Authority relates to prescription items dispensed in the community in England only.

NHS: Drugs

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how patient organisations will be involved in the scoping for a review of NICE technology appraisal methods included in the 2019 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when scoping will start for the review of NICE technology appraisal methods set out in the 2019 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the issue of combination treatments will be covered by the review of NICE technology appraisal methods set out in the 2019 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has confirmed that scoping what will be considered within the technology appraisal methods review will start in 2019/20 and will involve industry and other relevant stakeholders, including patient organisations.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many IVF cycles have been undertaken in which 1-9 eggs were collected when fresh embryos allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,  how many IVF cycles have been undertaken in which 10-14 eggs were collected when fresh embryos allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,  how many IVF cycles have been undertaken in which 15-20 eggs were collected when fresh embryos allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,  how many IVF cycles have been undertaken in which 21 or more eggs were collected when fresh embryos allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is shown in the following table: Number of in vitro fertilisation cycles: eggs collected and embryos were allowed to perishYear of egg collection1 to 9 eggs collected10-14 eggs collected15 to 20 eggs collected21 or more eggs collected201313,20810,3716,0762,460201413,85010,4176,1312,569201513,90810,6516,1662,908201614,34110,3985,9413,046201714,43710,4356,2143,212Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) The data is as shown on the HFEA’s register database on 8 January 2019. This is a live database so these figures reflect the data on this day and are likely to change over time.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many IVF cycles were undertaken in which 1-9 eggs were collected and frozen embryos were transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many IVF cycles were undertaken in which 10-14 eggs were collected and frozen embryos were transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many IVF cycles were undertaken in which 15 - 20 eggs were collected and frozen embryos were transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many IVF cycles were undertaken in which 21 or more eggs were collected and frozen embryos were transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is shown in the following table: Number of in vitro fertilisation cycles: eggs collected and frozen embryos transferredYear of Egg collection1 to 9 eggs collected10-14 eggs collected15 to 20 eggs collected21 or more eggs collected20132,6173,3162,6341,81320142,9593,3282,6861,73520153,3193,8062,9432,09320163,6683,7352,8242,22720173,4593,5512,7192,258Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) The data is as shown on the HFEA’s register database on 8 January 2019. This is a live database so these figures reflect the data on this day and are likely to change over time.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many IVF cycles were undertaken where 1-9 eggs were collected and frozen embryos were allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many IVF cycles were undertaken where 10-14 eggs were collected and frozen embryos were allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many IVF cycles were undertaken where 15-20 eggs were collected and frozen embryos were allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many IVF cycles were undertaken where 21 or more eggs were collected and frozen embryos were allowed to perish from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is shown in the following table:Number of in vitro fertilisation cycles: eggs collected and frozen embryos were allowed to perishYear of egg collection1 to 9 eggs collected10 to 14 eggs collected15 to 20 eggs collected21 or more eggs collected20138261,1261,0009972014699880811661201565782370069520165686995715482017430533487479Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) The data is as shown on the HFEA’s register database on 8 January 2019. This is a live database so these figures reflect the data on this day and are likely to change over time.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the live birth rate was under IVF when 1-9 eggs were collected and fresh embryos were transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the live birth rate was under IVF when 10-14 eggs were collected and fresh embryos were transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the live birth rate was under IVF when 15-20 eggs were collected and fresh embryos were transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the live birth rate was under IVF when 21 or more eggs were collected and fresh embryos were transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is shown in the following table: Live birth rate: eggs collected and fresh embryos transferredYear of ggg collection1 to 9 eggs collected10-14 eggs collected15 to 20 eggs collected21 or more eggs collected201325.7635.4139.3538.29201426.1937.3840.3441.17201526.5437.1740.9243.25201626.4837.2139.940.05201724.8935.3338.3737.62Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) The data is as shown on the HFEA’s register database on 8 January 2019. This is a live database so these figures reflect the data on this day and are likely to change over time. The live birth rate reported is the number of births that resulted from fresh embryo transfers as a proportion of the number of egg collections.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the live birth rate was under IVF when 1-9 eggs were collected and frozen embryos were transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the live birth rate was under IVF when 10-14 eggs were collected and frozen embryos were transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the live birth rate was under IVF when 15-20 eggs were collected and frozen embryos were transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the live birth rate was under IVF when 21 or more eggs were collected and frozen embryos were transferred from fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is shown in the following table: Live birth rate: eggs collected and frozen embryos transferredYear of egg collection1 to 9 eggs collected10 to 14 eggs collected15 to 20 eggs collected21 or more eggs collected201351.8561.466872.2201450.5963.9766.5769.63201544.4754.6860.2464.2620163746.3550.6458.33201721.3925.0630.4236.32Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) The data is as shown on the HFEA’s register database on 8 January 2019. This is a live database so these figures reflect the data on this day and are likely to change over time. The live birth rate reported is the number of births that resulted from egg collections where embryos were stored and subsequently transferred as a proportion of the number of egg collections. This is a cumulative birth rate over the course of any frozen transfers resulting from the initial egg collection. This is why there is a higher birth rate for frozen cycles which took place in 2013: there have been around five years in which frozen embryo transfers could have resulted in a birth, compared to only one year for egg collections which took place in 2017.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the median age was of women undergoing IVF who had 1-9 eggs collected and have embryos in storage following fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the median age was of women undergoing IVF who had 10-14 eggs collected and have embryos in storage following fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the median age was of women undergoing IVF who had 15-20 eggs collected and have embryos in storage following fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the median age was of women undergoing IVF who had 21 or more eggs collected and have embryos in storage following fresh stimulated cycles in each year since 2013.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is shown in the following table: Median age of woman: eggs collected and have embryos in storageYear of egg collection1 to 9 eggs collected10-14 eggs collected15 to 20 eggs collected21 or more eggs collected201334333232201434333232201534333332201635333332201735343332Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) The data is as shown on the HFEA’s register database on 8 January 2019. This is a live database so these figures reflect the data on this day and are likely to change over time.

Pharmacy

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to allow a pharmacy to open without a registered pharmacist being present.

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there are plans to allow pharmacy technicians to replace registered pharmacists in community pharmacies.

Steve Brine: The Government currently has no plans to allow a pharmacy to open without a registered pharmacist being present, or for pharmacy technicians to replace registered pharmacists in community pharmacies. The four United Kingdom health departments consulted from June to September 2018 on proposals to strengthen and clarify the organisational governance requirements of registered pharmacies, particularly around the roles and responsibilities of Responsible Pharmacists and Superintendent Pharmacists. The proposals do not amend the existing law requiring a pharmacist to be present at all times that a pharmacy is open for the provision of pharmaceutical services. The Government is considering consultation responses.

Orphan Drugs

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Scottish Medicines Consortium’s announcement on 8 October 2018 of the introduction of a revised definition for an ultra-orphan medicine, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of adopting the same definition.

Steve Brine: The Department has made no such assessment. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service in England on the use of most new medicines through its technology appraisal programme and also operates a separate highly specialised technologies programme for the evaluation of very high cost drugs for the treatment of very small numbers of patients. NICE operates a topic selection process that includes consideration of individual topics against published criteria and engagement with stakeholders to determine whether topics are suitable for assessment by NICE and, if so, which programme is most appropriate.

Rare Diseases: Drugs

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the rare disease medicines that do not meet the Highly Specialised Technology Criteria have been approved for access by NICE.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has advised that it has published 48 technology appraisals of orphan medicines for rare diseases, of which it has recommended 75% for some or all of the eligible patient population.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many eggs have been used to enable (a) pro-nuclear transfer and (b) maternal spindle transfer in each year since 2015.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is shown in the following table: YearFor research (total number of embryos entering the research pathway)For treatment (includes patient and donor eggs used, excludes any eggs frozen following fresh egg collection where these did not form part of the pro-nuclear transfer treatment)120155500201624302017153182018n/a238Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)Note:1The data is as shown on the HFEA’s register database on 8 January 2019. This is a live database so these figures reflect the data on this day and are likely to change over time.22018 data is not yet available.

Department of Health: Brexit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the additional staff required by his Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: Delivering the deal negotiated with the European Union remains the Government’s top priority. This has not changed. However, the Government must prepare for every eventuality. Given the interactions between EU exit work and the Department’s other priorities, it is not possible to provide an accurate break-down of the additional staff required in the event of deal and no-deal exit scenarios specifically. The resources available are under constant review and the Department is equipping itself with the resources it needs to deliver a smooth and orderly exit from the EU.

Insulin

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the adequacy of stockpiles of insulin in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 January 2018 to Question 205376.

Emigration: Children

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2018 to Question 202774, what discussions his Department plans to hold with The Executive Office in Northern Ireland on their proposals to establish a compensation scheme for children sent abroad from Northern Ireland as a result of the UK Government's historic child migration policy.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2018 to Question 202774, what plans his Department has to hold discussions with the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry Team on their investigations into children sent abroad from Scotland as a result of the UK Government's historic child migration policy.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2018 to Question 202774, whether the proposed ex-gratia payment scheme for former child migrants will be open to all surviving child migrants including those migrated from the UK prior to the Second World War.

Jackie Doyle-Price: On 19 December the Government published its response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's Interim Report and its report on Child Migration Programmes. The Government response outlines the Prime Minister’s decision to ensure that former child migrants receive a payment as soon as possible, in recognition of the fundamentally flawed nature of the historic child migration policy. It is our intention that the ex-gratia payment scheme is set up as quickly as possible, and further details will be provided shortly. Discussions with both the Northern Ireland Executive and the Scottish Government have already taken place and will continue as our work progresses. The ex-gratia payment scheme will be open to all former child migrants and will indeed include those migrated prior to the Second World War.

Independent Breast Screening Review

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendations of the Independent Breast Screening Review, published on 13 December 2018.

Steve Brine: The Department along with Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England is reviewing the recommendations of the recent Independent review of Breast Screening and will be publishing a full response on behalf of the Government shortly. The Government will ensure that steps are taken to implement a system that ensures a uniform national approach to the interpretation and implementation of breast screening policy, once that policy has been agreed. The Department, PHE and NHS England will continue to work together to ensure the safe delivery of the breast screening programme through agreed responsibilities and governance mechanisms.

Midland Metropolitan Hospital: Carillion

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the quality and extent of the completed work done by Carillion at the Midland Metropolitan Hospital; and what assessment he has made of whether the work completed by Carillion was commensurate with the £205 million the company received to carry out that work.

Stephen Hammond: Prior to the liquidation of Carillion, there were difficulties associated with the Mechanical, Engineering and Plant (MEP) design of the Midland Metropolitan Hospital which meant that the Trust was already expecting an 11-month delay to completion, although it is understood that these design issues were largely resolved at the point Carillion went into liquidation in January 2018. However less than 10% of the MEP had been installed as the fit out had barely commenced at that point. The Trust will be using independent technical advisers and experts to review the overall work to date on the Midland Metropolitan Hospital as part of the programme of work to complete the new hospital. The independent technical advisor to the lenders to the Private Finance Initiative consortium assessed and certified this valuation of £205 million a few days prior to Carillion going into liquidation.

Midland Metropolitan Hospital: Finance

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of Carillion's collapse on the budget for the Midland Metropolitan Hospital.

Stephen Hammond: The current estimate of the cost to complete the new Midland Metropolitan Hospital for Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, to be funded from public capital provided by the Department, is £358 million (including VAT) over the financial years 2019/20 to 2021/22. The Department is also providing £27 million for an early works contract to continue building works this year.

Drugs: Refrigerators

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the evidential basis is for his 18 December 2018 statement that his Department has become the largest buyer of fridges in the world.

Stephen Hammond: As part of the Department’s ‘no deal’ European Union exit contingency planning, a tender process to procure additional warehouse space to store stockpiled medicines within the mainland United Kingdom, including ambient, refrigerated and controlled drug storage, was undertaken in October 2018. Contract agreements for storage have recently been signed or will be signed imminently. Those contracts are expected to cover additional capacity including 53,000 pallets of ambient storage, 5,000 pallets of refrigerated storage and 850 pallets of controlled drug storage. The Department’s funding for additional warehouse capacity is on the condition that it is exclusively for the storage of additional stockpiles of medicines.

NHS: Finance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the validity of the October 2018 analysis by the Nuffield Trust showing an NHS funding shortfall of about £1 billion in 2019-20; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: We do not agree that there will be a shortfall in 2019-20, and the Nuffield Trust’s analysis, dated 26 October 2018, concludes that once recurrent efficiencies are factored in there is financial headroom within the National Health Service’s long-term settlement.

Drugs: Death

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to prevent drug-related deaths among homeless people.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is committed to halving rough sleeping by 2022 and ending it by 2027. The Department is delivering several commitments through the Rough Sleeping Strategy, published in August 2018, to ensure that the healthcare needs of rough sleepers are addressed; this includes measures to prevent substance-misuse related deaths among homeless people: a rapid audit of health services targeted at rough sleepers to identify gaps in service provision; and the provision of up to £2 million in health funding to test models of community-based health and support services for people who are rough sleepers. Both measures include a focus on substance-misuse services. Public Health England is taking action to improve access to drug and alcohol treatment services for homeless people with drug and alcohol problems so that they get the help that they need. They will be issuing commissioning guidance to local authorities in 2019.

Cancer

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish Health Education England’s completed consultation and recommendations for the planned phase 2 cancer workforce plan, ahead of the recommendations of Baroness Harding’s long-term plan workforce recommendations in March 2019.

Steve Brine: Health Education England (HEE) intended to publish a second phase, longer-term strategy that looked at the cancer workforce needs beyond 2021. The announcement of the development of the NHS Long Term Plan superseded this work and HEE will now work with NHS England and NHS Improvement to understand the longer-term workforce implications for further development of cancer services. This will include exploring sustainable growth beyond 2021 in key professions through continued investment in training places, with a greater focus on attracting and retaining students and improving the numbers of qualified professionals who go on to work in the National Health Service. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has commissioned Baroness Dido Harding working closely with Sir David Behan to lead a number of programmes to engage with key NHS interests to develop a detailed workforce implementation plan. These programmes will consider detailed proposals to grow the workforce rapidly, including consideration of additional staff and skills required, build a supportive working culture in the NHS and ensure first rate leadership for NHS staff.

Prime Minister

Free Movement of People

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to her oral contribution of 19 December 2018, Official Report, column 786, what the evidential basis is for the statement that will of people in the EU referendum 2016 was to end free movement; and if she will place a copy of that research in the Library.

Mrs Theresa May: The result of the 2016 referendum on United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union. Free movement coming to an end when the United Kingdom leaves the EU is also the official position of Her Majesty’s Official Opposition (Shadow Home Secretary, the Rt Hon. Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Diane Abbott), Official Report, 19 December 2018, Column 807).

David Cameron

Layla Moran: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2018 to Questions 202895 and 202896, for what reasons she did not specify in that answer whether any of her staff have (a) met or (b) held discussions with former Prime Minister, David Cameron in the last two months.

Layla Moran: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2018 to Questions 202895 and 202896, whether she has held discussions with former Prime Minister, David Cameron via (a) written communication and (b) telephone.

Mrs Theresa May: As I said in my answer to the Hon Member during my statement on December European Council (Column 552, 17 December 2018), the former Prime Minister is not giving advice. The last time I spoke to him was when we agreed the withdrawal agreement. It was when I spoke to two former Prime Ministers, as a matter of courtesy, to inform them what had been negotiated with the European Union.

Prime Minister: Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December to Question 201271 on Prime Minister: Brexit, for what reason the answer did not include an estimate of the carbon footprint of her visits to (a) her counterparts in other EU member states and (b) representatives of the EU Council and the Commission between 10 December 2018 and 13 December 2018.

Mrs Theresa May: I travel making the most efficient and cost-effective arrangements. My travel arrangements are in accordance with the arrangements for official travel set out in the Ministerial code

Department for International Development: Departmental Responsibilities

Layla Moran: To ask the Prime Minister, whether she has any plans to (a) abolish the Department for International Development or (b) merge it with another Department.

Mrs Theresa May: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave the Hon. Member for Glasgow North (Patrick Grady) on 5 September 2016, UIN 43524

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Sutton

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to roll-out universal credit managed migration in Sutton as a pilot.

Alok Sharma: The Department is currently working with key stakeholders to determine the approach to a managed migration pilot. We will be starting with very small numbers initially, and as a result will be able to track and support claimants through the process effectively to ensure that those moving onto Universal Credit do so easily and successfully.

Universal Credit: Christmas Bonus

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the financial saving to the public purse as a result of removing the Christmas £10 bonus from universal credit.

Alok Sharma: The Department has not made an estimate. As outlined in the answer to Question HL12406 on 7 January 2019, the income-related working age benefits that Universal Credit replaces were not treated as a qualifying benefit for Christmas Bonuses and therefore the payment of Universal Credit does not directly produce entitlement to a Christmas Bonus.

Department for Work and Pensions: Brexit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the additional staff required by her Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Alok Sharma: The Government continues undertaking planning for all EU exit scenarios, as is prudent. The Department continues to work closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union to ensure consistency of plans across government. Members of staff across the Department provide advice and analysis on EU Exit issues as required. Given the interactions between EU exit work and the Department’s other priorities, it would not be possible to give a figure for the information requested. The Department continually reviews workforce plans, priorities and changing needs, which includes identification and cessation of non-priority work where appropriate. We have accelerated our plans, and at the same time, the Civil Service as a whole is working to ensure that EU exit implementation is carried out to high quality without impacting public service delivery across the whole of government. The Department publishes its workforce management information each month. These details can be found at the following link.https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-workforce-management-information#2010-to-march-2014-

Budgeting Loans

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many budgeting loans were issued in 2018.

Justin Tomlinson: In the period January to December 2018, there were 1,177,200 awards of Budgeting Loans in Great Britain. This figure does not include awards made after review, reconsideration or appeal following an initially unsuccessful application, and is rounded to the nearest 100

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to bring forward separate proposed regulations to cover the migration of claimants of legacy benefits to universal credit for (a) the 10,000 claimants to be migrated from July 2019 and (b) the remaining claimants to be migrated from 2020; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: The Government will now seek powers for a pilot for managed migration and has replaced the regulations laid before the House on 5 November 2018, with two separate Statutory Instruments.There is a new provision within one of these Statutory Instruments which will mean that we will only move 10,000 onto Universal Credit as part of managed migration. In this way the Government is legislating for ‘piloting powers’ rather than the migration of all claimants. This is in line with suggestions from both the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee and the Work and Pensions Select Committee. We will report on our findings from the pilot before bringing forward legislation to extend managed migration.The pilot will begin - as planned - from July 2019 and does not affect the timeline for delivering Universal Credit, which will be completed in 2023.Written statement HCWS1243, laid on 11 January 2019, confirms this: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2019-01-11/HCWS1243/.

Personal Independence Payment: Mental Illness

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people claiming personal independence payment who at the point of the original decision scored points by satisfying descriptor b under Activity 9 (engaging with other people face to face) who have (a) anxiety and depressive disorders - mixed, (b) depressive disorder, (c) schizophrenia, (d) bipolar affective disorder (Hypomania/Mania), (e) personality disorder, (f) post traumatic stress disorder, (g) psychotic disorders/other/type not known, (h) alcohol misuse, (i) anxiety disorders/other/type not known, (j) generalised anxiety disorder, (k) agoraphobia, (l) schizoaffective disorder, (m) obsessive compulsive disorder, (n) cognitive disorders/other/type not known, (o) mood disorders/other/type not known, (p) drug misuse, (q) panic disorder, (r) anorexia nervosa, (s) cognitive disorder due to stroke, (t) phobia-social, (u) psychiatric disorders of childhood/other/type not known, (v) eating disorders not otherwise specified, (w) conduct disorder (including oppositional defiant disorder), (x) bulimia nervosa, (y) stress reaction disorders/other/type not known, (z) dissociative disorders/other/type not known, (aa) body dysmorphic disorder, (ab) phobia specific, (ac) somatoform disorders/other/type not known and (ad) conversion disorder (hysteria).

Sarah Newton: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many individuals have been affected by the erroneous payment of employment and support allowance and jobseekers allowance in December 2018 and January 2019; and if she will make a statement.

Sarah Newton: Over the New Year period, some JSA and ESA claimants who expected to receive payments fortnightly, actually received two individual weekly payments, rather than a single fortnightly payment. All claimants received the correct amount of benefit and no payments were late (the first part of these ‘split’ payments were paid early). In total there were 798,211 ESA claimants and 51,977 JSA claimants who received these ‘split’ payments (England, Scotland and Wales). The NI figures were 47,751 ESA and 3,059 JSA. Operational colleagues were notified how best to support claimants and we also provided a link to key information on gov.uk.

Independent Case Examiner

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2019 to Question 204482 on Independent Case Examiner, what the reasons were for the complaints that were closed for other reasons in December 2018.

Justin Tomlinson: The Independent Case Examiner’s Office (ICE) closed 2,521 cases in December 2018 for other reasons as detailed in the response to PQ 204482. The specific categories were: 2,514 cases were closed following a High Court decision to grant permission for a Judicial Review of the Department’s handling of the change to women’s State Pension age. 5 cases were withdrawn as the need for the complaint was removed. 1 case was withdrawn following the complainant’s satisfaction with action taken by the 1 case was withdrawn due to the complainant’s failure to respond to ICE enquiries.

Home Office

Visas: EU Countries

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to ensure visa-free travel between the UK and the EU for (a) tourism and (b) temporary business activities in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Caroline Nokes: For EU citizens of the current EU Member States, travelling to the UK as visitors (as tourists, on business trips, or to see friends and family), we do not intend to impose a visit visa regime. The EU have announced that the UK will be on the non-visa required list, even in the event of a no deal.

Refugees: Children

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2018 to Question 179213 on Asylum: Children, how many of the of the unaccompanied children who were granted asylum in the UK in 2017 made applications for refugee family reunion outside of the immigration rules; and how many of those applications were granted by (a) the Home Office and (b) an immigration judge.

Caroline Nokes: There is currently no provision in the Immigration Rules for Unaccompanied children who were granted asylum in the UK to sponsor family members to make applications for family reunion outside of the immigration rules.Allowing children to sponsor family members could create further incentives for more children to be encouraged, or even forced, to leave their family and risk hazardous journeys to the UK to sponsor relatives. This plays into the hands of criminal gangs who exploit vulnerable people and goes against our safeguarding responsibilities.The Government believes the best interests of children are reflected in remaining with their families, claiming asylum in the first safe country they reach that is the fastest route to safety and relying on resettlement schemes to travel safely.Available information relates to refugee family reunion applications received in total, from each nationality and how many were accepted in 2018 is published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2018/list-of-tablesAll those issued a family reunion visa are granted leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom, not asylum. The family reunion application process does not require an assessment of the applicant’s international protection needs. It is the family member in the UK that is required to have been granted refugee status or Humanitarian Protection.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has carried out an equality impact assessment on the EU Settlement Scheme.

Caroline Nokes: In accordance with the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Government has had due regard to the impacts of the EU Settlement Scheme on those who share a protected characteristic.

Home Office: Staff

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff were employed in his Department on (a) 20 December 2018 and (b) 23 June 2016.

Victoria Atkins: Home Office publish monthly workforce management information on gov.uk - links provided below.2010 to 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/structure-and-salaries-seriesJanuary to October 2018: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/workforce-management-information-2018Figures for November 2018 and June 2016 are provided in the table 1 attached.



Table 1 - Figs Nov 2018-June 2016 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 13.22 KB)

Visas: Commonwealth

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which Commonwealth countries residents (a) need a visa and (b) do not need a visa to visit the UK for tourism purposes.

Caroline Nokes: A list of countries and territories whose citizens and nationals need a visa prior to travel to the UK as visitors can be found in Appendix 2 to Appendix V of the Immigration Rules - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-v-visitor-rules.

Home Office: Infrastructure

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many infrastructure contracts overseen by his Department have been let with the stipulation that a Project Bank Account must be applied in the last year.

Victoria Atkins: No infrastructure contracts have been let with the stipulation that a Project Bank Account must be applied for the time period requested.

Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the UN Global compact on migration, what plans the UK has to take in additional migrants in 2019.

Caroline Nokes: The UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration is a legally non-binding document that respects the sovereignty of all countries to manage their own borders and to implement migration policies which respond to their national context. The UK is not legally bound to any new commitments.Migration to the UK is influenced by various factors, including the UK’s visa regimes with third countries, as well as the free movement of EEA nationals, which will end once we leave the European Union.

Immigrants: Detainees

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that survivors of trafficking and modern slavery are not held in immigration detention.

Caroline Nokes: Victims of human trafficking or modern slavery are regarded as vulnerable in the terms of the Home Office’s adults at risk in immigration detention policy. This means that such individuals will be detained for the purpose of removal from the UK, or their detention continued, only when the evidence of their vulnerability is outweighed by the immigration considerations likely date of removal, compliance with immigration law and public protection in their particular case.Additionally, in cases in which it has been found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an individual may be a victim of trafficking or modern slavery, the appropriateness of their being detained, or of their detention continuing, is governed by the Home Office’s modern slavery policy. This means that such individuals will not be detained, unless there are public order considerations that justify their detention.

Immigrants: Detainees

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the increase of the number of women from China held in immigration detention from 28 at the end of Q3 2017 to 52 at the end of Q3 2018.

Caroline Nokes: Levels of nationalities within immigration removal centres are dependent on migration flows, migrant activities and enforcement operations. Levels fluctuate throughout the year across all nationalities.The Home Office work collaboratively with High Commissions and Embassies to obtain travel documents for the return of those who have no lawful basis to remain in the United Kingdom. This can involve identity and nationality interview schemes and these can occur in immigration removal centres.The number of Chinese nationals detained increases when detained interview schemes are scheduled.

Refugees: Males

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of refugees who have entered the UK in each of the last five years were male.

Caroline Nokes: Refugee status is conferred following a grant of asylum. An asylum seeker may only become a refugee once asylum has been granted. Not all asylum seekers are deemed to be refugees and not all refugees claim asylum.The Home Office publishes data, in its quarterly Immigration Statistics release, on the number of asylum seekers granted refugee status, by sex (table as_05 Asylum, volume 2).The latest data cover the calendar year 2017, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/758195/asylum2-sep-2018-tables.ods

Offenders: Nationality

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what comparative estimate he has made of the levels of crime committed by British citizens and non-British citizens in each of the last five years.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects data on police recorded crime these are published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The latest Crime figures, for the year ending June 2018, can be accessed here:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesappendixtablesHowever, the Home Office does not receive information on the citizenship of suspects.

Undocumented Migrants

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of illegal immigrants residing in the UK.

Caroline Nokes: Any estimate of the exact size of the illegal population is extremely difficult and there would be considerable uncertainty around it.Exit checks were introduced in April 2015 and are, over time, providing more detailed insights into the behaviour of migrants and how they comply with the restrictions placed upon their length of stay in the UK. Instead of producing inaccurate numbers, the Government is focused on making it harder for people to live in the UK illegally.

Migrant Workers: EU Nationals

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of EU workers arriving in the UK would not have qualified for a highly-skilled work permit in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: Illustrative analysis set out in the ‘The UK’s future skills-based immigration system’ estimates applying a RQF3+ skills threshold and £30,000 salary threshold (though there will be discussions with businesses and employers on the appropriate threshold) could reduce annual inflows of EEA long-term workers by around 80 per cent.This analysis does not consider how firms and workers could potentially change behaviour in response to changes, or impacts from proposals other than applying a RQF3+ skills threshold and £30,000 salary threshold.

Migrant Workers

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the effect of low-skilled migration on the economy in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: No such estimate has been made but the independent Migration Advisory Committee report ‘EEA migration in the UK: Final report’ concluded “the benefits for existing residents of high-skilled migration seem clear. The evidence is less clear on whether low-skilled migration (perhaps those in the bottom 25 per cent of the earnings distribution) has had costs or been broadly neutral”.

Offenders: Undocumented Migrants

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of illegal immigrants that have committed crimes in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: Any estimate of the exact size of the illegal population is extremely difficult and there would be considerable uncertainty around it. Similarly this applies to any estimate of the size of the illegal population committing crimes not least because not all crimes committed come to the attention of the authorities or lead to arrests; convictions; or removal action.Exit checks were introduced in April 2015 and are, over time, providing more detailed insights into the behaviour of migrants and how they comply with the restrictions placed upon their length of stay in the UK. Instead of producing inaccurate numbers, the Government is focused on making it harder for people to live in the UK illegally.

Offenders: Immigrants

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many first generation immigrants have been convicted of committing crimes in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: Providing the information requested would require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Refugees: Religion

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of refugees resettled in the UK identify as (a) Christian, (b) Jewish, (c) Hindu, (d) Islamic, (e) Sikh and (f) Buddhist.

Caroline Nokes: In resettlement, the UK works according to the humanitarian principles of impartiality and neutrality which means that we do not take into consideration the ethno-religious origins of people requiring assistance as we resettle solely on the basis of needs, identified by UNHCR through their established submission categories.We believe that one way to protect the privacy of those being resettled and ensure their recovery and integration is to limit the amount of information about them that we make publicly available. We therefore do not publish a religious and ethnic breakdown of those who have been resettled

Antisocial Behaviour

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to protect people from antisocial behaviour.

Victoria Atkins: The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police and local authorities with a range of flexible powers that they can use to tackle and prevent anti-social behaviour. To support local agencies decide when and how to use these powers, the Home Office refreshed its statutory guidance for frontline practitioners on the use of the statutory powers in December 2017.

Fire and Rescue Services: Pensions

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Court of Appeal judgment on firefighters' pensions of 20 December 2018, what his Department's total legal costs were in that case; what estimate his Department has made of the potential costs of implementing that judgment; and how those potential costs are planned to be defrayed between central and local government.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government is seeking permission to appeal the judgment, so no estimate has been made of the potential costs of implementing the judgment nor any determination on how such costs might impact central and local government. To date the legal costs are in the region of £334,000.

Unexplained Wealth Orders

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Office, what information his Department holds on the nationality of people affect by the imposition of Unexplained Wealth Orders.

Mr Ben Wallace: Three UWOs have been applied for, and all granted, since the UWO power came into force in January. The UWOs concern two assets under one investigation in relation to an Azerbaijan national.

Home Office: Brexit

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the accounting officer for his Department has sought a written ministerial direction for expenditure on contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Caroline Nokes: It remains UK Government policy to have a managed withdrawal from the EU. Funding from HMT has been allocated to support both deal and no deal planning. No written ministerial direction has been sought in respect of this expenditure.

Fadia Kiwan and Intisar al-Jabouri

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the visas of (a) Intisar al-Jabouri, member of the Council of Representatives of Iraq, and (b) Dr Fadia Kiwan, Director General of the Arab Women Organization, were delayed in advance of their attendance at an event in Parliament on the 5 December 2018.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not routinely comment on individual cases. All applications for a visa to travel to the UK are considered on their individual merits, in accordance with the Immigration Rules.

Politicians: Foreign Nationals

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the effect of visa refusals for foreign parliamentarians on bilateral relations with those countries.

Caroline Nokes: The UK engages with bilateral partners on a wide range of issues including any concerns which they may raise.Foreign government Ministers visiting the UK on official visits are exempt from immigration control (including the visa requirement). In addition, all diplomats posted to the UK are exempt from the visa requirement.Applications from Parliamentarians for visit visas are assessed against the published Immigration Rules (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-v-visitor-rules)

Politicians: Foreign Nationals

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many parliamentarians from overseas countries have had to (a) cancel and (b) delay travel to the UK as a result of (i) visa refusals, (ii) visa cancellations, and (iii) delays in the issuing of a visa in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not collate or publish the information requested.The available information relates to total entry clearance visas refused, published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics Visas volume 1 table vi_01_q, latest edition at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2018/list-of-tables#visas .Information published in the Migration Transparency data indicates that the vast majority of straightforward cases are processed within Service standards (see table Visa_01, at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2018/list-of-tables#visas )

Immigrants: Detainees

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people detained by UK Visas and Immigration who had an outstanding (a) appeal, (b) application and (c) judicial review in (i) 2017 and (ii) 2018.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who were notified of the outcome of (a) an appeal, (b) an application and (c) a judicial review while being held in an immigration detention centre in the last 12 months.

Caroline Nokes: The specific information requested could only be supplied at disproportionate cost.Immigration detention is used as a last resort, sparingly and for enforced return where the person concerned has no right to remain in the United Kingdom. Each case is assessed by Home Office officials in line with published detention policy and there must be a realistic prospect of removal within a reasonable timescale.It would be rare for detention to occur when there is any outstanding appeal, application or Judicial Review. Those who are detained could be notified of the outcome of an appeal, application, or Judicial Review; but this would be those applications, appeals or Judicial Reviews that are raised or lodged from within detention.Transparency data in relation to immigration detention from November 2011 can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/681703/detention-oct-dec-2017-tables.ods.

Meat: Industry

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to put in place protections against (a) vegan and vegetarian and (b) other activists for people employed in the meat industry.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to put in place protections for medical researchers conducting medical testing on animals.

Mr Nick Hurd: This country has a proud history of allowing free speech, but the right to peaceful protest does not extend to harassment or threatening behaviour. The police have a range of powers to deal with any such acts.These include under the Public Order Act 1986, chief officers may impose conditions on assemblies to prevent serious public disorder, serious damage to property, serious disruption to the life of the community or when the purpose is to intimidate others to compel them not to do an act that they have a right to do.The police also have dispersal powers (in public places) under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 includes criminal offences that protect individuals, who are conducting lawful activities, from harassment by protestors.How these powers are deployed and the tactics used to manage protests are operational matters for the police.

Home Office: Brexit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the additional staff required by his Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Caroline Nokes: It was reported at Home Affairs Select Committee on 13th November that approximately 4,100 posts would be needed for EU Exit. These are being sourced through a combination of recruitment and internal redeployment.In general it does not make sense to draw a hard distinction between what is needed for ‘deal’ compared with ‘no deal’ as much of the capacity requirement is similar. Moreover we would expect to meet most of our additional requirements for ‘no deal’ through redeployment – reprioritising staff away from other activities. There is a specific requirement for additional no deal resourcing in HM Passport Office of around 330 full-time equivalent which we are expecting to meet through temporary staff.

Demonstrations: Greater London

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the Metropolitan Police Service discontinued its practice of estimating and publishing objective assessments of the number of people attending large demonstrations in London; when that practice was discontinued; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: The management of demonstrations is an operational matter for the police, as is the decision on whether to publish estimated numbers attending protests.

Post Office: Passports

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department plans to remove the Post Office's role in undertaking the Passport Check and Send service.

Caroline Nokes: There are no plans to remove the Post Office's role in undertaking the Passport Check & Send service. The service has just been expanded to provide a digital version of Check & Send to customers, and the agreement with Post Office Ltd is in the process of being extended by a further two years until 31 August 2022

Immigrants: Detainees

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of immigration detainees who are (a) foreign national offenders, (b) foreign national offenders subject to deportation under the UK Borders Act 2007 and (c) other detainees were held in immigration detention for (i) 28 days or fewer, (ii) over 28 days but less than four months, (iii) over four months but less than 12 months and (iv) over 12 months in each year since 2015 to date.

Caroline Nokes: Providing the information requested would require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.The Home Office publishes the number of Foreign National Offenders currently detained. The data can be found in the quarterly Immigration Enforcement Transparency Data: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-enforcement-data-november-2018The Home Office also publishes data on immigration detention, including the length of detention of those leaving detention (table dt_06_q) and the length of detention of those in detention at the end of each quarter (table dt_11_q). The data can be found in the detention tables in the latest Immigration Statistics, year ending September 2018, quarterly release.



Detention Tables - Sept 2018 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 5.51 MB)

Immigrants: Health Services

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether there was any interruption for users of the portal for making Immigration Health Surcharge payments in the two working days prior to the Surcharge increase

Caroline Nokes: In common with any other IT system, from time to time there are planned off-line periods for routine maintenance.During these periods a banner informing customers that the system was down for planned maintenance.We do not comment on specific operational matters regarding our IT services.

Home Office: Sudan

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what dates representatives from his Department visited Sudan as part of the ongoing country guidance case into the risk of return for failed asylum seekers in Darfur and the Nuba Mountains.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which areas of Sudan representatives of his Department visited as part of the ongoing country guidance case into the risk of return for failed asylum seekers in Darfur and the Nuba Mountains.

Caroline Nokes: Officials from the Home Office undertook a fact finding mission to Khartoum only between 10 and 17 August 2018 to obtain information about the treatment of non-Arab Darfuris in particular and returnees more generally.Background to the mission and its findings are set out in a report published in November 2018, which is available on the https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sudan-country-policy-and-information-notes

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Brexit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate she has made of the additional staff required by her Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

John Penrose: EU exit affects a number of work areas across the Department and will therefore encompass a proportion of workload for many staff, the amount of which will vary over time. The Department has restructured its approach to the way it handles EU exit work, moving from an initial central EU exit co-ordinating team of 7 to the current position where EU exit work is distributed widely across the whole department. Many of the same staff spend a proportion of their time preparing for leaving the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal. Those proportions vary continuously over time. As such it is difficult to quantify the number of staff working on preparing for the UK to leave the EU under any one possible scenario.

Foreign Investment in UK: Northern Ireland

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with the Tourist Board in Northern Ireland on promoting the benefits of Northern Ireland to foreign investors.

John Penrose: The Northern Ireland Office works closely with Tourism NI and the rest of Northern Ireland government departments to ensure that the work to highlight Northern Ireland as a great place to invest provides them with the support that they want. I am a former Tourism Minister myself, and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland regularly promotes inward investment to Northern Ireland, such as on her visit to the United States in September of last year.

Treasury

Treasury: Brexit

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many civil servants in his Department are currently working on planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how many have been moved from other projects to work on those plans.

Robert Jenrick: The department regularly reprioritises work in line with its changing priorities as part of its dynamic and flexible resourcing model. Many staff will work both on EU Exit and other priorities. Because of this it is not possible to give an accurate estimate of the number of civil servants involved solely in contingency planning for ‘No Deal’, at any one time.

Government Controlled Companies

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, where his Department archives information on wholly owned government companies; and whether such information is available for public review.

Robert Jenrick: HMT organises its records in such a way that does not hold a collection or archive of information on wholly owned government companies.The selection of records in the HM Treasury archive is based on its core activities of government economic policy and control of public expenditure that are of cultural and historical value. The HM Treasury archive collection is available for public viewing via The National Archives (TNA) website.

International Military Services: Finance

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place a copy of Financial relationships with International Military Services Ltd (IMS) 1981-1984 [T 458/55], currently withheld from the National Archives, in the Library.

Robert Jenrick: We have retained the documents under section 3(4) of the Public Records Act 1958 pending security clearance from relevant Government departments. Once we are satisfied that there are no grounds for retaining the documents, these will be deposited in the National Archives in accordance with the Public Records Act 1958.

Treasury: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many non-payroll staff are employed in (a) his Department and (b) HMRC.

Robert Jenrick: From the information held by HMT on our financial system we have identified 9 non-payroll staff members, as at 31st December 2018. The data for HMRC as at 30 November 2018, identifies 339 non pay-roll staff.

Treasury: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of non-payroll staff employed by (a) his Department and (b) HMRC.

Robert Jenrick: The total spent on non-permanent staff during the financial year 2017/18 was £2,370,569 for HM Treasury. These staff were predominantly non-payroll and mainly related to staff seconded in from other public bodies, but also include short term contract, agency and temporary staff. In the financial year 2017/18 HMRC spent £18,382,007 on non-payroll staff. This includes interim managers, specialist contractors, clerical and admin staff.

Treasury: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the number of hours worked by non-payroll staff employed by (a) his Department and (b) HMRC.

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the gender balance of non-payroll staff employed by (a) his Department and (b) HMRC.

Robert Jenrick: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Treasury: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the differences in average pay between payroll and non-payroll staff employed in (a) the Treasury and (b) HMRC.

Robert Jenrick: Due to the difference in work requirements the Treasury does not make a comparison between payroll and non-payroll staff to give a meaningful average. In HMRC when we have a temporary requirement or do not have the necessary skills internally, we engage non-payroll staff. We do not make the comparison between payroll and non-payroll staff due to the nature of our requirements for specialist skills, capacity or capability as there is no equivalence on which to give a meaningful average.

High Net Worth Unit: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) staff and (b) full-time equivalent staff are employed in (i) payroll and (ii) non-payroll roles in HMRC's High Net Worth Unit.

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff in HMRC's High Net Worth Unit.

Mel Stride: HMRC’s Wealthy team (a merger of the previous High Net Worth Unit and Affluent teams) as of 31/03/18 had approximately 1137 staff or 1046 full time equivalent staff employed in payroll roles. There were no staff in non-payroll roles. The estimated cost of payroll staff is £40.6m for 2018/19.

National Savings and Investments: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) staff and (b) full-time equivalent staff are employed in (i) payroll and (ii) non-payroll roles in National Savings and Investments.

John Glen: NS&I publishes the average number of full time equivalent staff in its Annual Report and Accounts. During 2017/18, the most recently reported period, on average NS&I employed 188 full time equivalent permanent staff and 4 full time equivalent non-payroll staff. In this period, on average NS&I employed 191 permanent staff and 4 non-payroll staff.

National Savings and Investments: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff in National Savings and Investments.

John Glen: NS&I publishes its staff costs in its Annual Report and Accounts. In 2017/18, the most recent reported period, the cost of NS&I’s payroll staff was £12,987,000, and the cost of non-payroll staff was £456,000.

Office for Budget Responsibility: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) staff and (b) full-time equivalent staff are employed in (i) payroll and (ii) non-payroll roles in the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Robert Jenrick: At the end November 2018 the headcount for staff in the Office for Budget Responsibility was 31 and the Full-time equivalent 30.08 FTE. There were no non-payroll roles.

Office for Budget Responsibility: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff in the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Robert Jenrick: The last audited value of payroll costs for the Office for Budget Responsibility for the year 2017/2018 was £2,009,000, and there were no non-payroll salary costs. This information can be found in the Annual report and accounts 2017/18. https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/ARA2017-18web_version.pdf

UK Debt Management Office: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) staff and (b) full-time equivalent staff are employed in (i) payroll and (ii) non-payroll roles in the Debt Management Office.

Robert Jenrick: (a) The total number of staff at the Debt Management Office as at March 2018 were (i) 118 payroll roles and (ii) 16 non-payroll roles. (b) The total full-time equivalent staff at the Debt Management Office for the financial year 2017-18 were (i) 110 payroll roles and (ii) 12 non-payroll roles.

UK Debt Management Office: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff in the Debt Management Office.

Robert Jenrick: The cost of staff in the Debt Management Office for the financial year 2017-18 were (a) £8,894,000 for payroll staff and (b) £2,121,000 for non-payroll staff.

Valuation Office Agency: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) staff and (b) full-time equivalent staff are employed in (i) payroll and (ii) non-payroll roles in the Valuation Office Agency.

Mel Stride: The average number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff on payroll between 2017 and 2018 in the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) was 3,337. The average number of FTE staff off-payroll in the VOA in 2017-18 was 43. The total of 3,380 matches the figure published in the Annual Report and Accounts.The average number of staff on payroll between 2017 and 2018 in the VOA was 3,575 and the average number of staff off - payroll in the VOA between 2017 and 2018 was 47.

Valuation Office Agency: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff in the Valuation Office Agency.

Mel Stride: The cost to the public purse of payroll staff for 2017 to 2018 was £138,258,788 and non-payroll staff was £2,917,225. The total of £141,176,013 matches the figure published in the annual report and accounts which can be found here: Valuation Office Agency annual report and accounts 2017 to 2018 - GOV.UK

Pay

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of the EU withdrawal agreement on wage levels.

John Glen: The Government published its long-term economic analysis of EU Exit on 28 November 2018: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exiting-the-european-union-publications. Tables 4.4 and 4.5 of the publication show the estimated long-term impact on real wages from changes to UK trade under different EU Exit scenarios. Changes to UK trade include different UK-EU trading relationships, and the modelled benefits of assumed new trade deals agreed between the UK and non-EU countries, assuming no other changes.

Manufacturing Industries

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential fiscal effect of the EU Withdrawal Agreement on the manufacturing sector.

John Glen: The Government published its long-term economic analysis of EU Exit on 28 November 2018. The publication sets out the impact of different EU exit scenarios on Public Sector Net Borrowing (PSNB), which is a UK-wide metric.The publication also contains an assessment of the economic impact of EU exit on different sectors. For example, the analysis shows that manufacturing sectors are estimated to have significantly higher output in the White Paper scenario than under no deal.

Economic Situation

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the Bank of England's forecasts for the economy after the UK leaves the EU.

John Glen: On 28 November the Bank of England published analysis on how the short-term impact of leaving the EU could affect the Bank’s ability to meet its objectives for monetary and financial stability. This analysis was produced by the Bank of England for the Treasury Committee and Parliament, and it was rightly produced and presented by the Bank independently of Government. In line with the practice of successive administrations, the details of ministerial discussions are not normally discussed.

European Investment Bank

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on access to investment funds of Government proposals to withdraw from the European Investment Bank.

John Glen: Investment is crucial for the economic future of this country, and the government is committed to ensuring that businesses and infrastructure projects have access to the finance they need.As the Chancellor has made clear we are actively exploring options for a future relationship with the European Investment Bank Group and these discussions will take place as part of the wider future relationship negotiations. However, as the Chancellor said in his 2017 Mansion House speech, if we do not maintain a relationship with the EIB group, we will be prepared.The government has a range of existing tools to support investment, including the £40bn UK Guarantees Scheme, and the British Business Bank. As announced at the Budget 2018, the government is reviewing how it supports infrastructure finance to ensure good projects continue to be able to raise the finance they need. Additionally, if no future relationship with the EIB Group is in place when the UK leaves the EU, the government will provide the British Business Bank with the resources to enable it to make up to £200m additional investment in venture capital and growth finance in 2019/20. The government will keep the support for financing infrastructure and high-growth businesses under review as negotiations progress.

Royal Bank of Scotland: Finance

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that grant funding from the RBS alternative remedies package is not used to update legacy bank IT infrastructure.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to encourage challenger business banking service providers to bid for Pool A and Pool B grants from the RBS alternative remedies package.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that grant funding awarded by Banking Competition Remedies Ltd under the RBS alternative remedies package is used effectively to provide for innovation and competition in the business banking market.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how and when the Government plans to make an assessment of the effect on the market share of the five largest business bank account providers of the grant funding awarded by Banking Competition Remedies Ltd under the RBS alternative remedies package.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with Banking Competition Remedies Ltd since the appointment of that organisation's board of directors.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to scrutinise Banking Competition Remedies Ltd's (a) management of the RBS alternative remedies package and (b) other work.

John Glen: The government agreed the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)-funded Alternative Remedies Package (the Package) with the European Commission (EC) in September 2017 as a resolution to RBS’ final State aid commitment to divest the part of its business known as Williams & Glyn. The Package was agreed on the basis that it is capable of having an equivalent positive impact on competition in the UK business banking market as the original State aid commitment. Banking Competition Remedies Ltd (BCR) was established in 2018 as the independent body to implement and oversee the Package. HM Treasury has appointed an independent third-party monitor which reports regularly to HM Treasury on the performance of BCR. The Package consists of a £425m Capability and Innovation Fund (CIF) and a £350m Incentivised Switching Scheme (ISS). The CIF comprises of 15 pre-determined grants divided into four pools, each with a distinct pro-competition purpose based on criteria agreed between HM Treasury and the EC. Eligible challenger banks and other financial services providers can compete for these grants to develop and improve their financial products and services available to SMEs, and to improve their capability to compete with RBS in the provision of banking services to SMEs. BCR has responsibility for communicating information regarding the Package to the market. Further information on the Package, including eligibility criteria and timelines for implementation is available on BCR’s website: https://bcr-ltd.com/Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Treasury: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what services non-payroll staff provide to (a) the Treasury and (b) HMRC.

Robert Jenrick: Both departments use contingent labour to quickly deploy specialist expertise, drive change and deliver increased efficiency to cover periods of increased levels of workforce demand. These individuals provide skills including (but not limited to) legal, administration, commercial, facilities management, finance and digital services.

Treasury: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many requests for consultancy and temporary staff in (a) the Treasury and (b) HMRC his Department has approved in the last five years.

Robert Jenrick: The information requested is not held centrally by either (a) HM Treasury or (b) HMRC and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Economic Situation

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the potential effect on the UK economy of the EU Withdrawal Agreement.

John Glen: The Chancellor has regular discussions with his colleagues on a wide range of issues relating to the UK's withdrawal from the EU. The Government has published a detailed set of economic analysis on the long-term impacts of EU exit on the UK economy, its sectors, nations and regions and the public finances. The Government’s analysis shows that our deal is the best deal available for jobs and our economy that allows us to honour the referendum and realise the opportunities of Brexit.

Financial Services

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the EU Withdrawal Agreement on the financial services sector.

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the EU Withdrawal Agreement on the level of market access of UK-based financial services to countries in the single market.

John Glen: The Government’s ambition is to preserve the economic benefits of the most important financial services traded between the UK and the EU, and ensure stable institutional processes for governing the relationship in financial services. This is the best way to protect financial stability and open markets, and is in the interests of businesses and consumers on both sides. This ambition is reflected in the Political Declaration agreed by both sides.The Government’s EU Exit Long-term Economic Analysis shows considerable gains to the UK’s financial services sector in the ‘Modelled White Paper’ scenario relative to no deal. The scenario also shows that many of the costs of cross-border trade that would occur in a no deal scenario would be mitigated, though barriers will still remain as the government does not seek to replicate the financial services passport which is only available in the Single Market. In the ‘Modelled White Paper’ scenario, domestic financial services also benefit significantly from the reduction in barriers to trading in goods relative to no deal.

Revenue and Customs: Working Hours

Chris Law: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what processes HMRC has in place to ensure compliance with Regulation 5 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 in relation to staff that work regularly in excess of 48 hours per week.

Mel Stride: The Working Time Regulations 1998 are explained to staff in HMRC HR Policy 28002. The policy details the responsibility of managers to monitor working hours to ensure compliance and action that they should take if their staff are working excessive hours.HMRC discourages opting out of the working time regulations, with any opt outs restricted to a maximum period of 12 months. Opt outs are activity monitored both centrally and by the HR Business Partners embedded in the business.

Import Duties

Chris Law: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts 2017-18, page 46, the Answer of 27 April 2018 to Question 118571 and the Reasoned Opinion issued on 24 September 2018 by the European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources, what his assessment is of the accuracy of European Commission’s estimate of duty loss.

Mel Stride: The UK does not recognise the Commission’s estimate of alleged duty evaded. The government will continue to discuss this on-going case with the Commission through the appropriate channels.

Revenue and Customs: Sustainable Development

Chris Law: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish the HMRC Sustainability Report for 2017-18.

Mel Stride: The HMRC Sustainability Report 2017 to 2018 was published on 10 January 2019. The report can be viewed at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-and-valuation-office-agency-sustainability-report

Social Enterprises: Corporation Tax

Steve McCabe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much corporation tax was paid by social enterprises in each of the last five financial years.

Mel Stride: Many social enterprises are liable to Corporation Tax. HMRC does not collect the level of detail on Corporation Tax returns to estimate revenue received from social enterprises. To do so would present an additional compliance burden to businesses.

Social Enterprises: Corporation Tax

Steve McCabe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to amend corporation tax rules for social enterprises to include social enterprise social impact costs to be considered under allowances and charges not included in calculation of trading profits and losses.

Mel Stride: The government recognises the contribution that businesses can make in addressing social issues in the UK.Charities do not pay tax on most types of income, as long as they use the money for charitable purposes. Corporate donations to charities are also deductible from taxable profits.Many social enterprises are companies. As such, they are subject to corporation tax on their profits, and eligible for the same tax reliefs as any other company.Providing special tax treatment for social impact costs would be costly, complex to administer, difficult to defend against abuse, and could lead to competitive distortions.To help address the challenges that social enterprises face raising capital, the government introduced the Social Investment Tax Relief in 2014 to support investment in social enterprises across the UK.In April 2017, the government increased the amount of investment that qualifying social enterprises could raise through this relief to £1.5 million.

Social Enterprises: Corporation Tax

Steve McCabe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, will he make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the amount of corporation tax payable by a social enterprise if the amount spent on social impact of the enterprise is 50 per cent or more of that enterprise's previous year’s profits.

Mel Stride: The government recognises the important contribution that businesses can make in addressing social issues in the UK.However, providing special tax treatment for social impact costs would be costly, complex to administer, difficult to defend against abuse, and could lead to competitive distortions.To help address the challenges that social enterprises face raising capital, the government introduced the Social Investment Tax Relief in 2014 to support investment in social enterprises across the UK.In April 2017, the government increased the amount of investment that qualifying social enterprises could raise through this relief to £1.5 million.

Multinational Companies

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of capping the size of multinational organisations.

Robert Jenrick: The Government does not intend to make such an assessment.

Multinational Companies: Taxation

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing taxes on global corporations and using any additional revenue raised to the public purse to reduce taxes for families.

Mel Stride: Since 2010, this government has taken unprecedented action to ensure that large multinationals pay their fair share of tax in the UK. For example, at Budget 2018, the Chancellor announced the introduction of a new Digital Services Tax (DST) from April 2020. This will raise around £1.5bn across four years. At the same time, the government remains committed to keeping taxes low for working people. A typical basic rate taxpayer will pay £1,200 less in tax in 2019-20 than in 2010, and we’ve announced plans to freeze fuel duty for the ninth year in a row. The government will continue to keep all tax policy under review.

Farmers: VAT

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many farmers participated in the agricultural flat rate (AFRS) VAT scheme since its establishment in each region of the UK.

Mel Stride: The number of successful entrants to the agricultural flat rate scheme since its commencement in 1993 to 2017 is 1,742. HMRC does not hold historic data by region.

Farmers: VAT

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how the 43 agricultural businesses who participated in the agricultural flat rate (AFRS) VAT scheme were selected to receive a questionnaire as part of the HMRC review of eligibility between 2011 - 2015.

Mel Stride: HMRC use various risking methods that includes risk triggers on types of businesses and intelligence, as part of their compliance work/activity. As a result of this activity 31 businesses that presented a VAT risk were removed from the agricultural flat rate scheme.

Treasury: Brexit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the additional staff required by his Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Robert Jenrick: A large proportion of the Treasury’s work is in some way related to exiting the European Union and this fluctuates over time as it interacts with the Treasury’s other priorities. It is not possible, therefore, to accurately estimate the proportion of the Treasury’s workforce, existing or additional, that will be engaged on EU-Exit (including in the event of either a) or b)), at any one time.

Debts

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the level of average household debt.

John Glen: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produces quarterly estimates of household debt in the UK, but not for estimates of average household debt in the UK. These estimates can be used to be measure household debt-to-income ratios, which provide a better measure for current levels of household debt in the economy by accounting for changes in both prices and the size of the population. In the UK as a whole, the household debt-to-income ratio was 139% in Q3 2018. This remains significantly below the pre-crisis peak of 160% in Q1 2008. Debt interest payments as a share of income remain low by historical standards and below pre-crisis levels. Household net financial wealth as a proportion of income remains close to record highs and above pre-crisis levels.

Electric Vehicles: Tax Allowances

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what tax incentives are in place to support the development and take-up of electric vehicles.

Robert Jenrick: The government uses the tax system to encourage the development and take-up of cars with low carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to meet our legally binding CO2 targets and our ambition for the majority of all new cars and vans sold to be 100% zero emission by 2040. Zero emission cars attract favourable rates of both Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) and company car tax. For example, on first registration, a zero-emission car is not liable to pay any VED, whilst the most polluting models attract a VED rate of over £2,000. The government has also recently responded to the consultation on reforming the VED system for vans. This confirmed that from April 2021 zero and ultra low emission vans will receive a significant VED discount compared to conventionally fuelled alternatives.

Public Expenditure

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with other Departments on providing fiscal support to the providers of public services for changes to their costs in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a negotiated deal.

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the additional expenditure that will be required in each Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a negotiated deal.

Elizabeth Truss: As a responsible government, we are committed to ensuring all necessary preparations are made before the UK’s departure from the EU in March, for all scenarios - including ‘no deal’. At Autumn Budget 2017, the Chancellor announced an additional £1.5bn in both 2018/19 and 2019/20 to help departments and the devolved administrations prepare for all Brexit scenarios; for 2019/20, this was further increased by £500m at Budget 2018, to £2bn. A full breakdown of the 2018/19 allocations can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement HCWS540, laid before Parliament on the 13th March 2018: (https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-03-13/HCWS540/) A full breakdown of the 2019/20 allocations can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1205, laid before Parliament on the 19th December 2018: (https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-12-18/HCWS1205/) HM Treasury is in regular discussions with departments regarding their EU-exit preparations; any specific queries relating to the preparations of individual departments or public-sector providers should be made to the department in question.

Tobacco: Smuggling

Martyn Day: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department (a) is taking to implement track and trace in plain packaging and (b) plans to take to ensure track and trace provides maximum (i) traceability and (ii) revenue collection.

Martyn Day: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2018 to Question 176456 on Tobacco: Smuggling, if his Department will publish the details of representations made by the tobacco industry on the issue of the implementation of the tobacco track and trace system.

Robert Jenrick: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has conducted a competitive tendering exercise to appoint an independent ID issuer who will be responsible for the issue of unique tracking codes and operator identifiers. The tender documentation specified that bids must comply with the EU Tobacco Products Directive and Implementing Regulations. This will enable traceability from the point of manufacture or importation to the first retail outlet, and ensures independence from the tobacco industry. Details of the successful bidder will be announced as soon as the contractual arrangements are finalised. The track and trace system is not a revenue collection system, however when used alongside existing controls it will help enforcement officers identify non duty paid tobacco products and take action against those responsible. The implementing legislation for the EU Directive specifies strict and comprehensive criteria by which independence from the tobacco industry is determined. This criteria has been, and will continue to be met at all times. While HMRC has no plans to publish representations made by the tobacco industry as they may contain taxpayer or commercially sensitive information, details of meetings between HMRC officials and the tobacco industry are published on gov.uk. This includes meetings to discuss points of detail on the track and trace system, such as the specific placement of the unique ID codes on the packs.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hm-revenue-customs-officials-meetings-with-tobacco-stakeholders

Tobacco: Smuggling

Martyn Day: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the maintenance of the UK’s position as an international leader in illicit tobacco control after the UK leaves the EU; and what plans he has to implement the provisions of the WHO FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.

Robert Jenrick: The government recognises that the trade in illicit tobacco is a global problem that requires a global solution. On 27 June 2018, the UK ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Protocol, an important international agreement that promotes a framework of regulation and cooperation to tackle the illicit trade. The government remains fully committed to the Protocol and to working with other Parties, including the EU Commission, to ensure its global implementation. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will continue to take an active role supporting the FCTC Secretariat’s work programme, sharing expertise and supporting other Parties work towards implementation. Parliament passed legislation to implement all compulsory elements of the Protocol prior to the UK’s ratification. A track and trace system, as required by Article 8 of the Protocol, is being introduced under requirements of the Tobacco Products Directive 2014/40. In addition, HMRC continues to maintain its worldwide network of Fiscal Crime Liaison Officers (FCLOs), who work with overseas authorities to tackle tobacco smuggling. They particularly focus on facilitating upstream seizures of illicit tobacco destined for the UK and remain an integral part of HMRC’s anti-illicit strategy.

Import Duties

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the additional import tariff revenue accruing to HM Treasury in respect of imports from the EU in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Mel Stride: The amount of customs revenue collected in the event of “no deal” is dependent on the rates of import duty set. The Government will publish new UK duty rates, in due course, before we leave the EU.

Revenue and Customs: Fraud

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2019 to Question 203305 on Revenue and Customs: Fraud, how many people were convicted of fraud or related offences as a result of investigations by the HMRC Customer Protection Team in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18; how many staff were employed in the HMRC Customer Protection Team in (i) 2015-16, (ii) 2016-17, (iii) 2017-18 and (iv) 2018-19; and how many European Arrest Warrants were sought as a result of investigations by the HMRC Customer Protection Team in (A) 2015-16, (B) 2016-17 and (C) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: The HMRC Customer Protection Team is responsible for reporting known cases, requesting removal of suspicious websites and raising awareness among the general public of how to identify scams and avoid becoming victims of fraud. HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) is responsible for the department’s civil and criminal investigations into the most serious fraud and wrongdoing. FIS ensures that HMRC has an effective approach to tackling the most serious tax evasion and fraud.Precise data is not held by HMRC in regard to convictions or European Arrest Warrants specifically relating to the sending of suspicious (i) e-mails, (ii) text messages and (iii) phone calls asking for personal information or threatening a lawsuit. HMRC works with law enforcement partners in the UK and internationally, and some individuals responsible for these communications have been arrested and charged by partner agencies, but precise figures are not held. Where sufficient intelligence exists to identify those responsible for such communications, HMRC will pursue a criminal investigation where appropriate Data security is one of HMRC’s top priorities and the department maintains appropriate skills and capabilities to assess and manage cybersecurity risks. For security reasons, HMRC cannot go into the details of the capabilities deployed in this area. The total number of people convicted of tax fraud or related offences as a result of investigations by HMRC Fraud Investigation Service is:YearConvictions2015/168082016/178072017/18835   HMRC is not a prosecuting authority. HMRC prepares the cases to the highest evidential standard, and pass the case to the relevant prosecuting authority to make a decision on whether the case goes to Court.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Equal Pay

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the report entitled DCMS gender pay gap 2017/18, published on gov.uk on 19 December 2018, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the rise in the median measure for the difference in hourly rate between male and female civil servants between 2016-2017 and 2017-2018.

Margot James: Machinery of Government change in July 2017, through which we took on responsibility for digital policy, marked the start of a period of significant growth for the Department. The changes to workforce structure that resulted from this growth have caused our median gender pay gap to increase, although our individual mean and median gaps for grades D - A (see attached table) indicate that DCMS employees are paid equally for work of equal responsibility. We are committed to reducing our gender pay gap and are taking action to target the causes of our increased median gap.



Pay DCMS
(PDF Document, 38.12 KB)

Television: Licensing

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has plans to provide free TV licences to people over the age of 75 after the end of the current scheme in 2020.

Margot James: The government agreed with the BBC at the 2015 funding settlement that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in 2020. It is entirely the BBC’s decision on the future of the concession. However, we have been clear that we would want and expect the concession to continue.

Television: Licensing

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with the BBC on its public consultation on licence fees for people aged over-75.

Margot James: The government regularly meets with the BBC to discuss a range of issues, including the over 75 concession.

Gambling: Advertising

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the planned timescale is for implementation of the voluntary ban on advertising on television by betting companies during sporting events.

Mims Davies: In December the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling (IGRG) announced changes to its advertising code. These include a ‘whistle to whistle’ ban on all TV betting adverts during pre-watershed live sport, including for 5 minutes before and after play, an end to betting adverts around highlight shows and re-runs, and an end to pre-watershed bookmaker sponsorship of sports programmes. The IGRG announced that the changes are expected to come into effect in summer.

Coventry City Football Club

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) English Football League, and (b) other stakeholders on the future of Coventry City Football Club; and if he will make a statement.

Mims Davies: The Department remains in regular contact with the English Football League on the situation regarding Coventry City Football Club. I look forward to discussing this further at the Westminster Hall debate on this issue tomorrow.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of additional full fibre broadband connections in rural areas which will be provided using capital contributions clawed back from BT in connection with its BDUK projects.

Margot James: The Department does not hold this information. BT gainshare/clawback was built into all of the Superfast contracts. This has been re-invested into a number of recent Superfast contracts and change requests. However those contracts and change requests also included a blend of other funding from BDUK, Local Bodies, Suppliers, ERDF and EAFRD. Furthermore in many cases those contracts have consisted of a mixture of Fibre to the Cabinet and Fibre to the Premise. Therefore it is difficult to determine a one to one correlation between clawback and Full Fibre connections.

Loneliness

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2019 to Question 204512 and with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled A connected society: a strategy for tackling loneliness, published in October 2018, when loneliness will be incorporated into ongoing policy decisions.

Mims Davies: As outlined in the tackling loneliness strategy, government’s intention is to embed consideration of loneliness and relationships throughout the policy-making process. Government is currently exploring the various mechanisms for doing this, including in the guidance for the Family Test. The strategy also announced that from 2019/20 individual government departments will highlight the progress they are making on addressing loneliness through their annual Single Departmental Plans.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to publish proposals on how small-scale renewables exporting to the grid will be rewarded.

Claire Perry: On 8 January, Government published a consultation on the future for small-scale low-carbon generation. This can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-for-small-scale-low-carbon-generation

Fracking

Lee Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Written Statement of 17 May 2018 on Energy Policy, HCWS690, whether the definition of non-hydraulic fracturing excludes fracturing with the use of (a) acid, (b) gas, (c) other substances and (d) water below the limits set out in the definition of hydraulic fracturing in section 50 of the Infrastructure Act 2015.

Claire Perry: In the Written Statement of 17 May 2018, the Government committed to consult on the principle of whether non-hydraulic fracturing shale exploration development should be treated as permitted development. The consultation sought views on a proposed definition of non-hydraulic fracturing shale exploration development. The Government will respond to the consultation in due course.

Fracking: Regulation

Lee Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what new powers will be conferred on the Shale Regulator in addition to the powers held by existing regulators.

Claire Perry: The Shale Environmental Regulatory Group is a virtual entity bringing together the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and the Oil and Gas Authority to provide a single interface for Mineral Planning Authorities and industry. It is not a statutory body and has no new powers or regulatory responsibilities. Each regulator will continue to retain its own independent regulatory functions, duties and enforcement powers as set out in law.

Fracking: Regulation

Lee Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason the new Shale Environmental Regulator Group was established instead of extending the remit and powers of the (a) Health & Safety Executive, (b) Environment Agency and (c) Oil and Gas Authority.

Claire Perry: The UK regulatory regime for shale gas is considered among the most robust and stringent in the world but it is also complex with three regulators: the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and the Oil and Gas Authority. Therefore, the Government has brought the existing regulators together through a virtual Shale Environmental Regulator Group to act as a single point of contact for Mineral Planning Authorities and industry, to improve the efficiency in resolving regulatory issues on sites and to share best practice. The Government is confident that the right protection is in place to explore shale safely and each regulator will continue to retain its own independent regulatory functions with the virtual regulator group having no statutory powers.

Fracking: Public Opinion

Lee Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of public support for fracking.

Claire Perry: The Department undertakes quarterly assessments on a range of subjects and topics as part of our Public Attitudes Tracker (PAT). Questions which explore the public’s perception and understanding of shale are included as part of this.The latest report was published on 8 November 2018 using survey data collected between 19 - 30 September 2018. The report can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/beis-public-attitudes-tracker-wave-27.

Fracking: Public Opinion

Lee Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department's Public Attitudes Tracker, September 2018 (Wave 27), whether he has introduced objectives for increasing the rating of shale gas in the next twelve months.

Claire Perry: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy undertakes quarterly assessments on a range of subjects and topics as part of our Public Attitudes Tracker (PAT). Questions which explore the public’s perception and understanding of shale are included as part of this. The Department has no specific objectives for increasing the ‘rating’ of shale gas in the next twelve months. The Government understands the development of shale gas exploration and production sites is an issue which directly affects local communities and recognises the need to provide those communities with fact-based information. Therefore, the Government appointed Natascha Engel to be the first Commissioner for Shale gas in October 2018. The Commissioner is a contact point for residents, to listen to their concerns, refer them to relevant and factual research and help improve communication with regulators and industry.

Fracking: Earthquakes

Lee Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what seismic magnitude his Department has set as the threshold to stop permanently a shale gas operation.

Claire Perry: In the UK, strong controls are in place to mitigate any risks from induced seismicity due to hydraulic fracturing operations. The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) monitors seismicity as part of their regulatory duties and they require operators, as part of a pre-agreed Hydraulic Fracture Plan, to pause if a seismic event of 0.5ML or above on the ‘Richter Local Scale’ is detected. Operations will only be allowed to proceed if the independent regulators determine there are no safety concerns and that the seismic event conforms to the thresholds agreed as part of a Hydraulic Fracture Plan, which they have all signed off. These regulations ensure that the risk of seismic activity during hydraulic fracturing is assessed in advance and that operations are closely monitored to allow action to be taken by the OGA and other regulators where necessary.

Fracking: Demonstrations

Lee Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the activities of anti-fracking protesters on the transportation of children to hospital.

Claire Perry: Protesters’ rights must be balanced with the rights of others to go about their business lawfully, without fear of intimidation or serious disruption to the community.  Rights to peaceful protest do not extend to violent or threatening behaviour and the police have powers to deal with any such acts. Any impact of protest activity on local access and highways is a matter for local police forces.

Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what further support the Government plans to offer smaller solar generators on their route to market as a result of the recent decision on the Export Tariff scheme.

Claire Perry: On 8 January, Government published a consultation on the future for small-scale low-carbon generation. This can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-for-small-scale-low-carbon-generation

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Brexit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,  what estimate he has made of the additional staff required by his Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Richard Harrington: In the financial year 2018/19, BEIS was allocated £185.1m of EU Exit funding. Of this total allocation £57.3m has been budgeted for staff within BEIS. These roles have now been filled and, complemented by existing staff within BEIS, will be working across all areas related to EU Exit, including deal and no deal scenarios. As negotiations continue, BEIS will continue to reassess its requirements with detailed planning for 19/20 continuing.

Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will reconsider his Department's decision to end the export tariff for new solar installations.

Claire Perry: On 8 January, Government published a consultation on the future for small-scale low-carbon generation. This can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-for-small-scale-low-carbon-generation.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will reconsider his Department's decision to end the small-scale feed-in tariff.

Claire Perry: On 8 January, Government published a consultation on the future for small-scale low-carbon generation. This can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-for-small-scale-low-carbon-generation.

Helium: Research

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to take steps to support geological research into new sources of helium in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Skidmore: The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), which is now part of UKRI, continues to welcome high quality applications for support into any aspect of geological research and these are judged in open competition with other demands on funding, with awards being made according to their scientific quality and importance.

Energy: Billing

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps is his Department taking to help people that are not computer literate to (a) compare and (b) switch energy company tariffs.

Claire Perry: The Government created the Big Energy Saving Network, to provide face to face support for vulnerable consumers to switch and save, led by Citizens Advice and delivered by third sector organisations and community groups. In addition many Ofgem accredited price comparison sites offer a free telephone service. We are also working closely with Ofgem to deliver midata in energy, which will streamline tariff comparisons by allowing switching companies to access key energy data, with customers’ consent, and include a telephone access route for those consumers who are less confident using computers.

Small Businesses

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help small businesses to grow.

Kelly Tolhurst: Through our modern Industrial Strategy, we are making the UK one of the best places in the world for businesses to start up and grow. The Government-owned British Business Bank is supporting nearly 78,000 small businesses with over £5.5 billion of finance; and we’ve extended funding for the Start Up Loans Company until 2021, supporting 10,000 more entrepreneurs. We’re also providing £56m of funding to boost business productivity, including £11m to create a Small Business Leadership Programme. Business across England can also access tailored advice and support through one of the 38 Local Growth Hubs, one in each Local Enterprise Partnership Area. These bring together public and private sector partners to deliver business support, making it easy for business to access the help and advice they need. We have launched the £9 million Business Basics Programme, as announced in the Industrial Strategy, to test innovative ways of encouraging SMEs to take up the good practices that can help them to become more productive. In addition, Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), drives productivity and growth by supporting businesses to realise the potential of new technologies, develop ideas and make them a commercial success.

Financial Reporting Council: Freedom of Information

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to improve the Financial Reporting Council's responsiveness to freedom of information requests.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) currently operates on the basis that it is partially designated as a public authority under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) i.e. in relation to certain statutory functions including; the recognition of recognised supervisory and qualifying bodies; the independent supervision of the Auditors General; and the registration of third country auditors. The Independent Review of the FRC recommended that the FOIA should be applied in full by the FRC and its successor body regulator. The Government will work with the FRC to take this forward.

Parental Leave

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department has plans to undertake a review of the effectiveness of shared parental leave.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is currently evaluating the Shared Parental Leave and Pay scheme. Amongst other things the evaluation will look at take up rates for the scheme, barriers to take up and how the scheme is being used in practice. Based on this information, the evaluation will assess whether the scheme has met its objectives.

Energy

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of domestic energy suppliers that have ceased trading as a result of financial difficulties in each year since 2010.

Claire Perry: There are now over 60 domestic energy suppliers in the market, up from 13 in 2010. Since 2010, 14 domestic suppliers have ceased trading. GB Energy (in 2016), was the first supplier to cease trading since 2008.

Energy: Prices

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the energy bills of consumers of domestic energy suppliers ceasing trading.

Claire Perry: In the event of an energy supplier insolvency, the Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) process allows a quick transfer of customers to another supplier appointed by Ofgem and ensures credit balances are protected. As a result of the competitive SoLR processes, successful suppliers have agreed to absorb a proportion of the costs of the process and claim some of the remaining costs via the industry-wide SoLR levy. The amount claimed through the levy will vary depending on the terms of the successful SoLR bid and other factors such as number of customers and how much credit they have built up. It takes time for the extent of some SoLR-related costs to become clear and Ofgem consult with industry and interested parties before any levy claim decision is taken.

Fireworks: Sales

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will launch a consultation on banning the sale of fireworks to the public.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government’s first priority is public safety. We also recognise the traditional enjoyment that many people get from fireworks. The Government believes the existing legislation and guidance provides the right framework to allow for the safe use of fireworks by the public and we have no further plans to consult.

Bombardier: Belfast

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with Bombardier Belfast on potential job losses.

Richard Harrington: I met with Michael Ryan (Chief Operating Officer, Bombardier Aerostructures and Engineering Services) on 22 November 2018, just after my statement to the House that day about the company’s announcement, on 21 November, about potential job losses in Belfast. I followed this up with a meeting on 10 December with Danny Di Perna (President, Bombardier Aerostructures and Engineering Services, based in Montreal), Michael Ryan, and other senior company representatives. At both meetings we discussed the importance of the company to the UK economy (and Northern Ireland in particular), the consultation process on potential job losses now underway, and future potential opportunities to secure new work for Bombardier in Belfast.

European Research Infrastructure Consortia

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect on UK (a) participation in and (b) hosting of the European Research Infrastructure Consortium of the UK leaving the EU without a deal in March 2019.

Chris Skidmore: As stated in the ‘Framework for the UK-EU partnership in Science, Research and Innovation’ and ‘The Future Relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union’, the UK has outlined its ambition to continue to host and support European Research Infrastructures. Furthermore, there is a shared commitment between the UK and the EU to explore UK participation in European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERICs) as stated in the Political Declaration on our future relationship. Any country in the world can be a member of an ERIC. However, to be a member, the UK would have to comply with certain membership requirements laid out in EU Council Regulation (EC) No 723/2009 (amended by Council Regulation EU No 1261/2013) – hereinafter referred to as the ‘ERIC Regulation’ - the framework under which these separate legal bodies are formed. As such, details of our continued participation are subject to negotiations with the European Commission. Should membership not be possible, BEIS and delegated responsible authorities, are working with each individual ERIC to explore the potential alternatives for continued UK participation. In order to host the statutory seat of an ERIC, a country must either be an EU Member State, or an associated country under the ERIC Regulation. If the UK leaves the EU without a deal in March 2019, we will no longer be able to host the statutory seat of the European Social Survey ERIC or the Integrated Structural Biology ERIC without further agreement of the European Commission. However, we are seeking to retain participation in each ERIC through alternative agreements which could include retention of some headquarter functions in the UK.

Chemicals: Industry

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the recommendations in the report, Sustainable Innovation for a Better World on the development of a sector deal for the UK Chemical Industry.

Richard Harrington: I warmly welcome the Chemistry Council’s strategy “Sustainable Innovation for a Better World” published in November. Sector Deals are a key part of our Industrial Strategy and we have agreed nine Deals to date. The Industrial Strategy White Paper set out six expectations for industry-led Sector Deal proposals. We anticipate entering into negotiations with some further sectors that can best meet those expectations. I welcome the chemistry sector’s interest in a Deal. My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I regularly meet the sector and our discussions on a possible deal will continue.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Brexit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the additional staff required by his Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Jake Berry: The Department is continuing to prepare for a smooth exit from the EU, whatever the circumstances of that exit, ensuring that we effectively manage the policies, activities and priorities for which we are responsible. Forty staff are currently working on the central management and co-ordination of the Department's EU Exit activity and we anticipate that additional people will join these central teams in the near term. Additionally, individual teams across the Department are focused on those issues that will require action or support in relation to our exit from the EU.

Housing: Nuneaton

Mr Marcus Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much has been allocated in new homes bonus payments to Nuneaton and Bedworth borough council in each year since 2011.

Mr Marcus Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether new homes bonus payments secured by Nuneaton and Bedworth borough council in 2018-19 will be guaranteed for four years; and if he will make a statement.

Kit Malthouse: The table below sets out the New Homes Bonus allocations to Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council in each year since 2011. In December 2018, Government announced the provisional New Homes Bonus allocations for 2019/20 due to be paid over the next four years. Consideration about the overall quantum of funding available to the local government sector will be a matter for the next spending review but Government remains fully committed to incentivising housing growth and will consult widely with local authorities on how best to reward delivery most effectively.Table: Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council New Homes Bonus allocationsYearAmountYear 1 (2011-12)167,589Year 2 (2012-13)591,015Year 3 (2013-14)891,705Year 4 (2014-15)1,280,232Year 5 (2015-16)1,470,955Year 6 (2016-17)2,033,352Year 7 (2017-18)1,857,926Year 8 (2018-19)1,304,546

Neighbourhood Development Plans

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the process by which neighbourhood plans are agreed; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the timescale to agree neighbourhood plans.

Kit Malthouse: Neighbourhood plans are agreed via local referendums and, to date, there have been over 700 successful referendums. In 2016 the Government introduced reforms through the Housing and Planning Act to speed up and simplify the neighbourhood planning process including setting time limits to ensure local authorities make timely decisions at key stages. These reforms were supported by the publication of sector-led and Government planning guidance. The Government continues to keep these recent reforms to the neighbourhood planning process under review.

Funerals: Low Incomes

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the cost to the public purse of local authority funded funerals carried out under section 46 of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 in each year since 2010.

Rishi Sunak: The Department does not collect this information from local authorities.

Homelessness

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will commission a report on the causes of homelessness in England.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: This Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy which sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period.Following a recommendation by the Public Accounts Committee the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government and the Department for Work and Pensions jointly commissioned a feasibility study into researching the wider causes of homelessness, including households’ experience of the welfare system as well as other factors such as housing affordability or relationship breakdown.The feasibility study was completed by an independent supplier, Alma and comprised of three strands:a rapid evidence assessment on the causes of homelessness in the UKa critique of existing models of homelessness and homelessness projections; andidentification of options for developing a predictive, quantitative model or suite of models on homelessness.The Communities Secretary and I are working with the ministerial teams across the DWP to decide how best to take this work forward. We will write to the Public Account Accounts Committee shortly setting out our plans for next steps.

Building Research Establishment

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many contracts his Department has awarded to the Building Research Establishment since 2010; and what the total value is of those contracts.

Kit Malthouse: The Department has awarded 26 contracts to the Building Research Establishment with a total value of £5.9 million since 1 April 2010.In addition since January 2011, details of central government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive.Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Counter-terrorism

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in how many countries the UK military is conducting counterterrorism operations; and in how many of those countries the UK is (a) conducting air and drone strikes, (b) deploying combat troops, (c) constructing or retaining military bases  and (d) building the capacity of partners to conduct counterterrorism and other actions.

Mark Lancaster: Air and Unmanned Aerial Systems strikes are being conducted in Iraq and Syria. The UK is conducting military counterterrorism operations or capacity building in 17 countries. Military personnel have been deployed on the ground but none of those personnel are employed in combat roles. The Ministry of Defence has not constructed nor is it retaining any military bases for the sole purpose of counterterrorism operations; UK forces use shared military establishments at the invitation of host governments or allies at a number of locations globally.

Ministry of Defence: Industrial Health and Safety

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many notices of contravention were issued to his Department by the Health and Safety Executive in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014, (d) 2015, (e) 2016 and (f) 2017.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Defence: Industrial Health and Safety

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many notices of contravention issued to his Department by the Health and Safety Executive included contraventions of health and safety law in relation to the prevention of heat illness in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014, (d) 2015, (e) 2016 and (f) 2017.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Defence: Industrial Health and Safety

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many notices of contravention issued to his Department by the Health and Safety Executive were in relation to incidents involving Special Forces in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014, (d) 2015, (e) 2016 and (f) 2017.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Defence: Industrial Health and Safety

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many notices of contravention issued to his Department by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have resulted in follow-up action being taken by the HSE in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014, (d) 2015, (e) 2016 and (f) 2017.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces: Death

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Service Inquires conducted after a death during a (a) training exercise and (b) selection event included heat illness as a factor in (i) 2012, (ii) 2013, (iii) 2014, (iv) 2015, (v) 2016 and (vi) 2017.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces: Death

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Service Inquires after a death during a (a) training exercise and (b) selection event involved Special Forces in (i) 2012, (ii) 2013, (iii) 2014, (iv) 2015, (v) 2016 and (vi) 2017.

Mark Lancaster: It is long standing policy of this Government and of previous Governments, not to comment on UK special forces.

Military Aircraft and Warships

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) state of readiness and(b) availability of (i) major warships, (ii) attack submarines, (iii) helicopters and (iv) military aircraft.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence keeps its equipment under constant review to meet current and potential future requirements. The normal operating cycle of military equipment and Units requires them to hold different readiness levels depending on their programmes, maintenance and Departmental planning requirements.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to improve recruitment in the Armed Forces.

Mark Lancaster: We are committed to maintaining the overall size of the Armed Forces. The Services are meeting all their current commitments. To help address Armed Forces manning challenges the Ministry of Defence has introduced its Armed Forces People Programme to modernise the employment offer including scope for flexible working and a new Forces' Accommodation Model. The individual Services have also implemented a wide range of programmes including:The Royal Navy/Royal Marines have the Personnel Recovery and Growth Programme which includes initiatives to improve inflow (gains to trained strength); throughflow (changes to training pipelines, promotions and accelerated throughput); and outflow (improving retention and reducing voluntary outflow).The Army is implementing improvements to recruitment and training policy and practices; targeted financial retention incentives; and a strategy to attract personnel to re-join the Army. The lifting of the exclusion for women serving in Ground Close Combat roles highlights the commitment to offering maximum opportunity for all.The RAF has established Enterprise Collaboration Teams to oversee a range of recruitment initiatives for critical skills groups, including the appointments of Specialist Recruitment Teams for hard to recruit branches and trades, BAME and female personnel. A new initiative has also been introduced to encourage personnel to re-join the Service.

Army: Recruitment

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Your Army Needs You British Army recruitment campaign was signed off by Ministers of his Department.

Mark Lancaster: The new 'Your Army 19' recruiting campaign was developed by an expert advertising agency contracted by Capita. It was based upon detailed market research and lessons learned from previous campaigns. The campaign was closely developed with and approved by the Army. I then endorsed the campaign last year.

Army: Recruitment

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much money from the public purse has been spent on the Your Army Needs You British Army recruitment campaign.

Mark Lancaster: £1.5 million has been budgeted for production of the 'Your Army 19' advertisements launched at the beginning of 2019. This includes all TV, radio, posters and social media products. Actual production costs are not yet confirmed but are expected to be less. This does not include broadcasting costs.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel were recruited by the armed forces in each month since January 2018.

Mark Lancaster: The requested information is provided in the following table:  Intake to UK Regulars, month ending, January to September 2018  JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberRoyal Navy/Royal Marines40025022014030025028010560Army7303207102605102203802901,440Royal Air Force240110280150230100110180260 Notes: figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias.Figures provided are for full-time UK Regular Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service, Locally Employed Personnel and Non Regular Permanent Staff.

Iran: Intelligence Services

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has held with his NATO counterparts on allegations of iranian intelligence service operations in the territory of NATO-member states, and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: The Secretary of State speaks to his NATO counterparts regularly to discuss a range of defence and security policy issues. This particular issue is of deep concern to the UK. The UK, alongside other European NATO partners, met with Iranian authorities on 8 January 2019 to raise our deep concerns regarding hostile activities and plots being planned and perpetrated in Europe. The UK has released a statement condemning these actions. The UK nonetheless remains committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, for as long as Iran continues to implement it in full. However, we are clear that this commitment does not preclude us from addressing other hostile and destabilising activities.

Scotland Office

Block Grant: Scotland

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on changes to the Block Grant over the current spending review period.

David Mundell: I have regular discussions with my cabinet colleagues, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer on important Scottish issues, such as measures taken at fiscal events. As a result of the Government’s decisions at the last Budget, Scotland will benefit from a £950 million funding boost. And by 2020, our block grant to Scotland will have grown to over £32 billion before adjustments for tax devolution. This means that Scotland’s budget will have seen a real terms increase over the spending review period.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Staff

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many staff were employed in his Department on (a) 20 December 2018 and (b) 23 June 2016.

George Hollingbery: When the Department for International Trade (DIT) was formed in July 2016, the number of staff was 2,504. This figure includes staff working at UK Export Finance (UKEF). The number of staff working for the Department for International Trade and UKEF as at 31 December 2018 is 3,925. The number of people working for the department is calculated at the end of each month. Therefore, the closest dataset available has been shown. The figures above include all people engaged in DIT and UKEF business activities. This includes employees (including those working overseas), contractors and those on loan from other government departments or seconded from organisations external to the Civil Service.

Department for International Trade: Brexit

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many projects his Department has put on hold due to the requirements of planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

George Hollingbery: The Government’s policy is for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union with a negotiated deal. Individual Departments are responsible for briefing businesses and other interested parties about contingency planning for all eventualities, and the Cabinet Office is co-ordinating contingency planning across Whitehall. Departments are continually looking at and reviewing workforce plans, reprioritising and assessing changing needs. We expect our ‘no deal’ plans will not be required, but will prepare responsibly to ensure the smoothest exit in all outcomes.

Arms Trade: Exports

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will list the countries to which the UK has authorised arms sales in the last five years.

George Hollingbery: All export licences are issued in strict accordance with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. The Government publishes Official Statistics (on a quarterly and annual basis) about export licences granted and refused for military exports on GOV.UK. These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.The data currently provides details of licences up to 30 June 2018. Information about the period 1 July to 30 September 2018 will be published shortly.

Department for International Trade: Brexit

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many non-disclosure agreements his Department has signed with (a) companies and (b) trade associations advising the Government on preparations for contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

George Hollingbery: None.

Overseas Trade

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department has taken to facilitate trade with (a) China, (b) the US and (c) Australia after the UK leaves the EU.

George Hollingbery: The Government works actively to support trade and reduce barriers in all three countries, including through our overseas network and HM Trade Commissioners, through ministerial visits and bilateral working groups, and through the broad support this Department provides both to UK companies exporting to these countries and to those overseas companies wishing to invest in the UK. This work is intensifying as we leave the EU. In addition, the Government is preparing for an ambitious programme of trade negotiations and enhanced market access, including potentially opening formal negotiations for new free trade agreements with the United States and Australia. We have completed 14-week long public consultations on these potential future trade agreement negotiations. We are also building stronger relationships with large economies through a series of Joint Trade Reviews. As part of the UK-China joint trade and investment review, officials of both countries took part in the third series of technical discussions in Beijing in November.

Overseas Trade: Tunisia

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support businesses that want to trade with Tunisia after the UK leaves the EU.

George Hollingbery: The Department of International Trade (DIT) advances UK trade and investment objectives in Tunisia through a number of channels. This includes through Government officials and the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy for Tunisia, Dr Andrew Murrison MP, who engage key Tunisian stakeholders in support of UK businesses. UK Export Finance has significant capacity to support UK exports to Tunisia. DIT also works closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development to advance our trade relationship with Tunisia, and Ministers from both departments have included trade in their engagement with counterparts when visiting Tunisia. DIT and FCO officials have been in regular dialogue with Tunisia to achieve continuity of existing trading arrangements by replicating the effects of the existing EU-Tunisia Association Agreement. We will inform Parliament and the public when an agreement has been signed. Securing continuity will be a strong foundation to build further on our successful trading relationship.

Trade Fairs: USA

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what proportion of the cost of the visit by the Secretary of State and UK delegation to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was borne by the (a) public purse and (b) private sector; and how many members of the delegation had their visit fully funded by his Department.

George Hollingbery: The Secretary of State led a delegation of over 100 UK companies to the Consumer Electronics Show, the largest trade show in the world in support of fantastic, innovative UK business. The full costs of the Secretary of State’s visit was paid for by the department. The Department’s Tradeshow Access Programme provides grants to eligible businesses to attend overseas trade shows. This Programme supported 16 businesses to attend the Consumer Electronics Show, at a cost of approximately £2,000 per business. None of these businesses had their visit fully funded by the department. The department does not hold information on private costs incurred by members of the delegation to attend the Consumer Electronics Show.

Exports: EU Countries

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will set out the proportion of total exports for each region of the UK that went to the EU in each of the last three years for which data is available.

George Hollingbery: Estimates of the percentage of goods exports by UK region are published by HM Revenue and Customs in its Regional Trade Statistics release:https://www.uktradeinfo.com/statistics/rts/pages/default.aspxExperimental estimates of the percentage of services exports by GB region are published by the Office for National Statistics, however they do not cover all services (they exclude travel, transport and financial services) and only cover 2011-2015 and Great Britain. https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/internationaltrade/articles/estimatingthevalueofserviceexportsabroadfromdifferentpartsoftheuk/2015 The two datasets above cannot be aggregated together due to differences in methodology and coverage.

Department for Transport

Department for Transport: Staff

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff were employed in his Department on (a) 20 December 2018 and (b) 23 June 2016.

Jesse Norman: In response to your request, the number of staff employed by the Department and its agencies (DfT Central Department, the Driver Vehicle & Licensing Agency, the Driver & Vehicle Services Agency, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency and the Vehicle Certification Agency) on the respective dates are as follows:30th June 2016 30th November 2018 HeadcountFTEHeadcountFTEDfTc20842021.826742598.2DVLA62445548.260685346.9DVSA45274273.248274559.9MCA1015963.811431095.1VCA155145.9180170.5Total1402512952.91489213770.6 Please note, the figures represented have been taken from end of month reports and as there is currently no report available for December 2018. The figures used are at 30th November 2018. The figures represent pay staff and do not include contractors and other non-pay employees.

Department for Transport: Infrastructure

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many infrastructure contracts overseen by his Department have been let with the stipulation that a Project Bank Account must be applied in the last year.

Jesse Norman: In 2018 the Department for Transport Group created 62 Project Bank Accounts for infrastructure contracts. 61 of these bank accounts relate to Highways England, and 1 relates to Network Rail.

Gatwick Airport: Unmanned Air Vehicles

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the closure of Gatwick Airport on 19 and 20 December 2018 after illegal drone use threatened flight safety for the future resilience at that airport.

Jesse Norman: The recent use of a drone to disrupt Gatwick airport operations was a serious criminal offence. The Department is working closely with the Home Office, Police, CAA and all UK airports to ensure that appropriate lessons are learnt from this incident, and appropriate mitigations put in place to reinforce their protection. Department for Transport and Home Office Ministers will be meeting with key UK airports this week to discuss their counter-drone strategies in the wake of the Gatwick incident. The Department is introducing a number of measures to build on existing regulations to improve safety and security at airports and other critical infrastructure sites, set out in our consultation response published on 7th January, which can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-future-of-drones-in-the-uk-consultation. These measures include new powers for the police to ensure they are able to enforce the law for offences involving drones, and increased drone restriction zones around airports.

Crossrail Line

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the time frame is for the Elizabeth Line to be fully operational.

Andrew Jones: Crossrail Limited, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Transport for London, is currently working on a revised delivery plan. Crossrail Limited has committed to delivering the full Elizabeth line services as quickly as possible once the central tunnels have been completed, to provide a service that will carry up to 200 million passengers a year.

Crossrail Line

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the total cost of Crossrail.

Andrew Jones: The anticipated final costs of the Crossrail project are yet to be confirmed. It is expected the project will be completed within the funding envelope of £17.6bn. The Department is working with Transport for London, for whom Crossrail Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Lee Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason owners of properties through trusts that do not occupy those properties are not eligible for Rural Support Zone scheme compensation in areas affected by the High Speed Two route.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: For eligibility purposes for the HS2 statutory and non-statutory property compensation schemes (including the Rural Support Zone), the Government’s policy is that unless the owner is also the occupier of that property, they cannot qualify to apply under any of the schemes. Occupation is a long-standing requirement under the Government’s wider property compensation framework. The only exception within HS2 relates to the non-statutory Need to Sell property compensation scheme, if the person seeking to sell the property to the Secretary of State is classed as a ‘reluctant landlord’. This is where the person can demonstrate they had a compelling reason to sell at the time they moved out of the property in order to avoid or escape a situation of unreasonable burden, and that letting the property could provide only temporary relief from this burden, and they do not own another home. The Government has no plans to alter these arrangements.

Gatwick Airport

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which Ministers of his Department visited Gatwick Airport during December 2018; and on what dates.

Jesse Norman: Nusrat Ghani, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport and Baroness Sugg Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport performed a joint visit to Gatwick airport on 7 December 2018.

Railways: Concessions

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the proposed 16 and 17 year old railcard will be valid on services provided by open access operators.

Andrew Jones: The 16-17 railcard will offer savings of 50 per cent on all rail journeys run by franchised train operating companies managed by the Department for Transport. We will announce further details in the summer.

Railways: Concessions

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average waiting time was for online applications for a 26-30 railcard in each of the first seven days it was available for sale in 2019.

Andrew Jones: The Department understands that demand for the railcard created delays for some passengers trying to purchase the product on 2 January due to its big popularity on the first day of sale, however, the Rail Delivery Group took steps to rectify the issue and there are now no queues or wait times. Delivery of the 26-30 railcard, including sales of the railcard, was led by Rail Delivery Group who handled transactions and enquiries, and the Department does not hold the requested data.

Railways: Oxford

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average cost per mile to the consumer was for rail journeys between (a) Oxford and London Paddington, (b) Oxford Parkway and London Paddington, (c) Oxford and London Marylebone and (d) Oxford Parkway and London Marylebone in 2018.

Andrew Jones: The Department does not hold data on the average cost per mile of journeys between different destinations. The cost per mile for individual passengers will depend on the ticket purchased.

Transport: Greater London

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of his Department's budget is spent in London.

Jesse Norman: It is notoriously hard to attribute the benefit and location of public investment in transport infrastructure accurately. Figures on public sector expenditure at a regional level are part of the Government’s Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) statistics. These provide statistical allocations of public spending according to where the benefits of that spend are accrued, although the complexity of transport networks means that it is not always possible or appropriate to allocate transport spending on a ‘who benefits’ basis. Where this is the case, expenditure has been apportioned based on actual regional spend rather than where the benefit lies.In addition, the investment profile of major transport spending can be extremely lumpy, further distorting the figures. Finally, the benefits from spend on transport interventions will often accrue to people far beyond the residents of the immediate local area or region. This is particularly the case for spending on railways, which connect cities and regions across the country and deliver broader benefits beyond the region concerned. In the case of London, the city receives a substantial number of daily commuters and visitors, both domestically and internationally, who use and benefit from its public transport networks. Much of the investment made in London benefits people across the U.K. With these provisions in mind, the latest CRA statistics, published by HM Treasury on 20th November 2018, show that 26% of the Department for Transport’s total expenditure in 2017/18 was in the London region. The Department for Transport makes investment decisions based on a rigorous and fair appraisal process designed to ensure spending goes to the projects and programmes where it delivers greatest value for both taxpayers and passengers.

Bus Services: Disability

Heidi Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport,  what recent discussions his Department has had with bus companies to ensure that the required level of disability awareness training is undertaken by all bus drivers.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Bus and coach operators must ensure that drivers subject to the EU Regulation 181/2011 requirement to complete disability awareness training receive appropriate instruction. As part of the 2018 annual bus statistics survey, we sought data on whether operators were compliant with these new duties, and results will be published on January 30th. We also intend to publish best practice guidance on disability awareness training in the spring. We are committed to developing a framework for the monitoring and enforcement of relevant training requirements, and continue to liaise with Regulators and the bus industry to ensure that operators understand fully their responsibilities.

Taxis: Disability

Heidi Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the level of discrimination faced by disabled people when travelling by taxi.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Disabled Persons’ Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) have a statutory duty to advise Ministers on the transport needs of disabled passengers, and we have discussed with them the challenges that disabled people face when using taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs). Ministers are considering the recommendations made in the report of the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing, including those intended to improve accessibility. A Government response will be issued in due course. We also intend to commission research to understand more clearly the experience of passengers who have been refused service by taxi and PHV drivers on account of using a wheelchair or assistance dog, and the levers available to Government to help eliminate such unacceptable behaviour.

Airports: Wheelchairs

Heidi Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps are being taken to ensure that baggage handlers at UK airports have the required training to handle wheelchairs.

Jesse Norman: The Government seeks to ensure equal access to air travel for all. Through the recently launched Aviation 2050 consultation the Department is considering a new Passenger Charter that will raise standards and enhance services for passengers, including disabled people and those with reduced mobility. This includes increased uptake of disability awareness training programmes for ground handlers, and addressing the difficulties faced when stowing wheelchairs in the hold of a plane.

Seaborne Freight

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date a decision was made to include Seaborne Freight in the list of companies to be invited to tender for the provision of cross-channel ferry services.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Decisions to invite companies to tender were made in November. Companies were identified based on their potential to operate Ro-Ro services between the UK and the Continent.

Seaborne Freight

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, between which dates his Department carried out due diligence checks on Seaborne Freight prior to issuing a contract to that company.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Formal checks were undertaken on all bidders during December.

Seaborne Freight

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has confirmed as part of due diligence checks whether Seaborne Freight became VAT registered.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: All companies operating out of the UK are required to comply with relevant VAT legislation.

Seaborne Freight

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has sought any written assurances from representatives of Seabourne Freight's (a) bank, (b) legal representatives and (c) accountants on that company’s ability to comply with its contract with the Government.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Yes. Written assurances were sought from a number of representatives as part of the contractual arrangements.

Seaborne Freight

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has commissioned a formal credit check on Seaborne Freight from an established credit-check company.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Yes. This was conducted as part of due diligence undertaken on Seaborne Freight.

Seaborne Freight

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has sought advice from Baltic Exchange or any other shipping brokers in relation to the capacity of Seaborne Freight to run a cross-channel ferry service.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department was supported by advice from a number of external advisers.

Seaborne Freight

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department’s contract with Seaborne Freight includes provisions that require that company to (a) lease or (b) purchase ships.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Yes.

Seaborne Freight

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is his working assumption that Seaborne Freight will use ships for its proposed cross-channel ferry operation operating under the UK flag.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: This is a commercial decision for any vessel operator, including Seaborne Freight.

Seaborne Freight

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to approve an operating manual covering the safety standards of ships to be used by Seaborne Freight for cross-channel ferries; and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Seaborne Freight will be required to comply with the same stringent International Maritime Organization safety standards that are applied to all vessels. In the UK these are enforced by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Ramsgate Port: Channel Ferries

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) infrastructure and (b) dredging work is required at the Port of Ramsgate to enable the operation of ferry services contracted by his Department; and what (a) private and (b) public institutions will fund those works.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Maintenance dredging is currently in progress. Additionally, limited works are needed to restore the readiness of the port for regular ro-ro services, including appropriate Border Force facilities. Seaborne and my Department are working closely with Thanet Council to ensure that the Port will be ready to accept new services.

Seaborne Freight

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what payments from the public purse are due to Seaborne Freight under the contract issued by his Department for provision of ferry services between Ramsgate and Ostend (a) in advance of ferry services being provided and (b) in the event of the company being unable to fulfil the contract.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: No payments are due either in advance of ferry services being provided or in the event of the Company being unable to fulfil the contract.

Channel Ferries: Freight

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what procurement and tender process was followed for contracts to run additional freight ferries in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Chris Grayling: These processes are described in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 7 January.

Seaborne Freight

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will list the third party organisations that undertook due diligence on Seaborne Freight in advance of his Department’s awarding of a contract to that company for ferry services.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The third party organisations who provided external advice were Deloitte UK, Slaughter & May and Mott MacDonald.

Department for Transport: Brexit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the additional staff required by his Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Chris Grayling: DfT currently has just over 160 staff working directly on EU Exit and is drawing in more resource. The department’s current assessment is that it will not require a significant increase in staff numbers if the UK leaves the EU with a deal. In a no deal scenario, a substantial number of additional staff are likely to be redeployed from other roles in Government. The majority will be internal DFT staff or staff from other government departments. These requirements are being kept under regular review.

Diesel Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to encourage car manufacturers to reduce diesel car pollution.

Jesse Norman: The Road to Zero strategy sets out the actions being taken to reduce emissions from road transport and deliver the Government’s mission to see every new car effectively zero emission by 2040. It also gives details of the Real Driving Emissions (RDE) requirements that came into force in September 2017. RDE ensures manufacturers limit emissions of both Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) and particulates across a wide range of normal driving conditions.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Lee Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the HS2 compensation scheme can be extended to include tenants of properties affected by construction of the line.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Along with the power to compulsorily acquire land for HS2, there is an obligation on the Secretary of State to pay full and fair compensation. Tenants who are directly displaced by the HS2 project by the compulsory purchase of land may be eligible to receive statutory compensation comprising: The lease value - if a property is governed by a lease, the lease will have a diminishing value depending on how close it is to the date on which the lease expires. Generally a short tenancy – an assured shorthold tenancy running for a year or a periodic tenancy running from a year to a year – will have little compensable value. Home loss payment - the compensation framework guarantees that however short a tenant’s lease is, they will receive, if they are displaced by virtue of compulsory purchase, a minimum of what is currently £6,300, by way of a home loss payment. Disturbance - where a tenant is required to give up their tenancy by virtue of compulsory purchase and they incur moving costs, they are entitled to recover those disturbance costs as part of their compensation claim.

Channel Ferries: Freight

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he had with (a) DFDS, (b) Seaborne Freight and (c) Brittany Ferries on employment for UK (i) Ratings and (ii) Officers on the vessels that will be deployed on the public contracts his Department recently awarded to each company for roll-on roll-off freight ferry services.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the number of (a) Ratings and (b) Officers jobs created under the public contracts his Department recently awarded to (a) DFDS, (b) Seaborne Freight and (c) Brittany Ferries for roll-on roll-off freight ferry services from UK ports.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what due diligence he has undertaken to ensure that terms and conditions of employment for seafarers employed on vessels used to deliver the public contracts his department recently awarded to (a) DFDS, (b) Seaborne Freight and (c) Brittany Ferries for roll-on roll-off freight ferry services are compliant with UK legislation.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the estimated costs are of crewing the vessels required to deliver the public contracts his Department recently awarded to (a) DFDS, (b) Seaborne Freight and (c) Brittany Ferries for roll-on roll-off freight ferry services.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the ships used by (a) DFDS, (b) Seaborne Freight and (c) Brittany Ferries to carry out the public contracts his Department recently awarded for roll-on roll-off freight ferry services from UK ports will be entirely crewed with UK Ratings.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the crew employed on ships used by (a) DFDS, (b) Seaborne Freight and (c) Brittany Ferries to carry out the public contracts his Department recently awarded to each company are planned to be covered by (a) national minimum wage and (b) auto-enrolment pension legislation.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the ships to be used by (a) DFDS, (b) Seaborne Freight and (c) Brittany Ferries to deliver the contracts awarded to those companies for roll-on roll-off freight ferry services from UK ports will be linked to existing collective bargaining agreements with trade unions.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether an assessment was made of the level of compliance with UK employment law of roll-on roll-off ferry services provided from UK ports by (a) DFDS, (b) Seaborne Freight and (c) Brittany Ferries before those companies were awarded public contracts in December 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: All companies operating in the United Kingdom must comply with all applicable employment law. Crewing arrangements are a matter for operators.

Channel Ferries: Freight

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, If he will list the provisions in the public contracts his Department recently awarded to (a) DFDS, (b) Seaborne Freight and (c) Brittany Ferries for roll-on roll-off freight ferry services which cover the (i) crewing and (ii) chartering of vessels.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: I refer the Hon Member to the Written Statement laid by my Rt Hon friend the Secretary of State on 7 January.

Bus Services: Safety

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of departmental guidance accompanying the Bus Services Act 2017 in increasing (a) the implementation of independent, confidential reporting systems and (b) the release of bus safety incident data.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department encourages local authorities to think about how they can use the tools in the Act to improve bus safety in their area. In particular, we would encourage local authorities to consider the benefits of an independent confidential reporting system (ICRS), and release of bus safety incident data, when they are forming a partnership or franchising scheme. It is up to local authorities to determine what measures, if required, to improve bus safety in a particular area.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2018 to Question 108776 on High Speed 2, whether the barn owl mitigation plan has been published.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: HS2 Ltd’s Barn Owl Mitigation Plan has not been published to date.

Department for Transport: Brexit

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library a full list of companies that his Department has engaged in contracts with for work relating to preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

Chris Grayling: In line with transparency obligations the details of contract awards over £10k are published on Contracts Finder. The Department endeavours to do this in a reasonable time, and where possible within 90 days of the contract award date.

Goring Station

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department plans to take to improve the approach to Goring station in Oxfordshire.

Andrew Jones: Goring & Streatley station was improved in September 2016 when a new footbridge and lifts opened, allowing step-free access to both platforms. DfT Minor Works funding has been used to make further accessibility improvements at the station. There are currently no plans to undertake further work. The road network around the station is the responsibility of Oxfordshire Country Council, who have a statutory duty to maintain the highways network in their area.

Channel Ferries

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he anticipates the Ramsgate to Ostend ferry route will be open to freight if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: I expect this route to be open to freight by April 2019.

Taxis: Licensing

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to respond to the report, Taxi and private hire vehicle licensing: recommendations for a safer and more robust system, published on 24 September 2018.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Ministers are considering the recommendations made by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing. A Government response will be issued in due course.

Rail Gourmet: Industrial Disputes

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has taken steps to seek to assist in resolving the industrial dispute between the RMT union and Rail Gourmet at Edinburgh.

Andrew Jones: This is a local dispute over a breakdown in industrial relations between a private employer in the rail catering business and its catering employees who are members of the RMT. It is not appropriate for the Secretary of State to intervene and is for the parties concerned to resolve.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Staff

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff were employed in his Department on (a) 20 December 2018 and (b) 23 June 2016.

Sir Alan Duncan: It is standard practice for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to calculate headcount numbers on the last working day of each month. Therefore, our December 2018 figures are not yet available.As of the 30th November 2018, the FCO has 4788 (4721 FTE) UK-based staff. As of the 30th June 2016, the FCO had 4331 (4253 FTE) UK-based staff.

Politicians: Visas

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on (a) delays to, (b) cancellations of and (c) refusals of visas to foreign Parliamentarians intending to visit the UK in recent years.

Sir Alan Duncan: There have been no discussions on these specific topics between the Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary. Officials in both departments regularly communicate about the UK's visa system, including on occasions raising individual cases.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will make an estimate of the proportion of expenditure from the Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund that has funded terrorism in each year for which information is available.

Alistair Burt: The UK understands that approximately $172 million was spent on payments to the ‘Martyrs Fund’ in 2016. The fund makes payments to Palestinian families who have a family member that has died or been wounded ‘whilst resisting the occupation’. We do not hesitate to raise instances of incitement with the Palestinian Authority and we use our strong partnership to lobby them to make sure payments from the Martyrs Fund cover only family members’ needs. We also want the system to be more transparent. No UK aid is used for prisoner payments or the fund you reference.

Christianity

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to secure religious freedom for Christians throughout the world.

Mark Field: ​Freedom of Religion or Belief is an important part of the work done by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. We regularly raise this issue with international counterparts both at ministerial and senior official levels and in multilateral forums. The respected NGO, Open Doors, estimates that 215 million Christians experience high or extreme levels of persecution around the world. To ensure that the United Kingdom is using its influence to support Christians in the best possible way, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs commissioned an independent, global review into the persecution of Christians on 26th December 2018. This review will be led by the Bishop of Truro, the Right Reverend Philip Mounstephen will report by Easter the additional practical steps the government can take to support persecuted Christians. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-announces-global-review-into-persecution-of-christians

Pakistan: Politics and Government

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of democratic process, constitutional freedoms and religious liberty in Pakistan.

Mark Field: In 2018, Pakistan’s elections led to an unprecedented second successive transfer of power from one full-term civilian government to another. Following the 2013 elections, the Election Commission of Pakistan took steps to improve electoral processes and enable Pakistan’s population to exercise their democratic right to vote. HMG supports institutions in Pakistan which underpin the democratic process, including work to strengthen the rule of law. The freedom to hold and express views without censorship, intimidation or unnecessary restriction is a cornerstone of democracy. We are also concerned by restrictions on freedom of expression, and on freedom of religion and belief in Pakistan. We are concerned about constraints on the operating space for civil society and international NGOs in Pakistan. We regularly raise our concerns about rights and freedoms with the Government of Pakistan at a senior level. When she spoke to Prime Minister Imran Khan in August 2018, Prime Minister Theresa May noted the importance of Pakistan delivering on its commitments to strengthen institutions responsible for upholding the rule of law, and to advance the rights of women and minorities. In September 2018, my colleague Lord Ahmad raised the importance of safeguarding the rights of all Pakistan’s citizens with Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari. The British High Commission in Islamabad continues to raise our concerns about the registration process for international NGOs with the Government of Pakistan.

Sri Lanka: Human Rights

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations the Government has made and to whom to ensure the government of Sri Lanka abides by UNHRC Resolution 30/1 agreed on 1st October 2015 at the 30th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Mark Field: Since UNHRC 30/1 was established in 2015 we have repeatedly pressed the importance of the Government of Sri Lanka implementing its commitments under the UN Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1 and its follow-up Resolution 34/1. During my most recent visit to Colombo, in early October 2018, I again raised these commitments with Foreign Minister Marapana. I encouraged accelerated progress towards fulfilling these commitments, including the return of military-held private land, and the development of new counter-terrorism legislation in line with international human rights standards.The British High Commission in Colombo is also in regular contact with the Government of Sri Lanka and other key stakeholders on the implementation of Resolution 30/1.Lord Ahmad spoke at the September Human Rights Council in Geneva, encouraging further implementation of Sri Lanka's commitments in the area of devolution through constitutional reform, truth-seeking and accountability.The United Kingdom has made a long-term commitment to improving human rights in Sri Lanka and is dedicated to supporting the rebuilding of the country after three decades of civil conflict. The UK is providing Sri Lanka with £8.3 million of Conflict, Stability and Security Fund funding over three years (2016-2019), including support for police reform and training, reconciliation and peace building, and demining in the north of the country.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Brexit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the additional staff required by his Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Sir Alan Duncan: Using Her Majesty's Treasury EU Exit funding and a process of internal reprioritisation, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has created approximately 550 new roles in the UK and overseas to strengthen our diplomatic network in the UK and across Europe so that it is better able to represent and promote British interests and engage with our European partners in support of a successful EU Exit.We do not want or expect a no deal outcome. However, a responsible government should prepare for all potential outcomes. We are continually reviewing our workforce plans and reprioritising and assessing changing needs, including identification and cessation of lower-priority work where appropriate.The Civil Service as a whole is working to ensure that EU Exit Implementation is carried out to a high quality without impacting public service delivery across the whole of government.

British Nationals Abroad: Forced Marriage

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost of repatriating a victim of forced marriage to the UK in each year since 2010.

Harriett Baldwin: ​We do not maintain statistics on the cost of repatriation. We do have statistics on the number and value of emergency loans given to victims of forced marriage for repatriation purposes since 2012. The cost of repatriating victims of forced marriage to the UK varies, and is dependent on individual circumstances including the victim’s age and the country that they are in. There are also different routes for funding repatriation: in the majority of cases the family cover the cost of the repatriation. Where possible, the Government to seek to ensure the costs fall on the perpetrators by means of Forced Marriage Protection Orders (FMPOs). After being served with an FMPO the victim’s family, who are usually responsible for the victim travelling overseas against their wishes or under false pretences, would be instructed to arrange and pay for them to return to the UK within a specific period.

Forced Marriage

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the value of the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average emergency loan granted to victims of forced marriage in each year since 2010.

Harriett Baldwin: We do not hold data for the value of emergency loans granted to victims of forced marriage prior to 2012. Based on best available data, we have made the following estimate of the value of emergency loans granted to victims of forced marriage for years since 2012: 2012:(a). Lowest: £340.00(b). Highest: £991.00(c). Average: £579.64 2013:(a). Lowest: £62.00(b). Highest £826.00(c). Average: £493.18 2014(a). Lowest: £107.00(b). Highest: £1,376.10(c). Average: £608.85 2015(a). Lowest: £388.25(b). Highest: £701.00(c). Average: £536.85 2016(a). Lowest: £100.00(b). Highest £1,203.40(c). Average: £579.43 2017(a). Lowest: £647.00(b). Highest: £922.96(c). Average: £717.02

British Nationals Abroad: Forced Marriage

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of victims of forced marriage who were required to pay the cost of repatriation to the UK without an emergency loan agreement in each year since 2010.

Harriett Baldwin: There are different routes for funding repatriation, and we do not collect or record statistics on how individuals fund their return to the UK. In the majority of cases the family cover the cost of the repatriation. Where possible, the Government will seek to ensure the costs fall on the perpetrators by means of Forced Marriage Protection Orders (FMPOs).

Sudan: Foreign Relations

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the next round of the UK-Sudan Strategic Dialogue is planned to take place.

Harriett Baldwin: ​The next round of the biannual UK-Sudan Strategic Dialogue, which provides an important platform for the UK and Sudan to raise issues of concern and discuss areas where we can work together, is scheduled to take place in Spring 2019. The exact date is currently being finalised.

Leyla Guven

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on (a) the deteriorating health of Leyla Güven MP, a Kurdish member of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in the Turkish Parliament, who is on hunger strike and (b) the legal basis for Ms Güven's pre-trial detention.

Sir Alan Duncan: We have raised concerns with the Turkish authorities over the detention of HDP (Peoples' Democratic Party) Members of Parliament. We have also discussed the issue with the HDP itself. We expect Turkey, as a modern democracy, to undertake any legal processes against MPs, including Leyla Guven, fairly, transparently and with full respect for the rule of law. We will continue to engage with the Turkish Government on these important issues.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Brexit

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many non-disclosure agreements her Department has signed with (a) companies and (b) trade associations advising the Government on preparations for contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Harriett Baldwin: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not have any non-disclosure agreements with organisations to provide advice to the Department on preparations for contingency planning for the UK’s exit from the EU without a deal.

Cameroon: Internally Displaced People

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps her Department has taken to support the safe return of Cameroonian internally displaced persons in the Far North Region.

Harriett Baldwin: Our support to the displaced population in the Far North of Cameroon is focused on immediate humanitarian assistance. There are over 227,000 internally displaced Cameroonians and almost 100,000 refugees from Nigeria in the region. In 2018 we provided £2.3 million of lifesaving assistance to support the humanitarian needs of this population, including for protection, nutrition, health, food security and livelihoods.

Cameroon: Internally Displaced People

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps her Department is taking to support the humanitarian needs and safe return of anglophone Cameroonian internally displaced persons.

Harriett Baldwin: The Department for International Development recently announced a £2.5m contribution to the UN appeal for the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon to support internally displaced persons, with £2 million disbursed immediately to UNICEF. This support will begin to: treat 1,300 children who are most at risk of dying from severe acute malnutrition; provide essential drugs to treat 5,700 children for deadly diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea, and acute respiratory infections; provide 10,000 people with water and sanitation kits including water purification supplies and other household items including washable sanitary napkins and tooth brushes; provide 2,000 mosquito-nets to prevent malaria; vaccinate 3,500 children against measles; and identify and support many unaccompanied children.

Indonesia: Tsunami

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance the Government has given to Indonesia following the tsunami in December 2018.

Penny Mordaunt: Following the Sunda Strait tsunami in Banten and Lampung provinces of Indonesia, the Secretary of State for International Development offered her condolences and expressed the UK’s readiness to offer international assistance in the response to the disaster. While the Indonesian Government has not requested any international assistance to the response, the UK remains in close contact and stands ready to help.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2018 to Question 201561, what support her Department provides to the private sector to help make safe nutritious foods more affordable and accessible to (a) women, (b) adolescent girls, (c) children under five and (d) other poor people.

Alistair Burt: DFID supports private sector innovation and investment in value chains and markets for nutritious foods. This is done both by offering businesses technical assistance and access to finance for investments, and by working to remove inefficiencies in agri-food value chains. Alongside this, DFID funds research and development of nutritious crops and agricultural technologies and supports their commercial scale-up. DFID also works to strengthen the enabling environment to make it more conducive for companies to invest in nutritious foods and associated inputs, technologies and services. In addition, DFID supports accountability mechanisms like the Access to Nutrition Index and the Scaling Up Nutrition Civil Society Network to further incentivise more responsible business action on nutrition. DFID’s work in this area gives priority to improving nutrition outcomes for women, adolescents, children under five and other poor people, as set out in the Nutrition Position paper https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/652122/nutrition-paper-2017a.pdf

Developing Countries: Job Creation

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to measure and monitor (a) the number and (b) standard and quality of the jobs created by UK development assistance.

Penny Mordaunt: Creating more and better jobs is fundamental to reducing poverty, enhancing global prosperity and helping countries overcome the need for aid. As developing countries generate better quality jobs, opportunities for UK trade and investment increase. DFID’s Economic Development Strategy commits the UK to supporting more and better jobs as a means of delivering the Sustainable Development Goals. As published in DFID’s annual report, DFID is developing its monitoring of numbers of people supported to have raised incomes or obtain or maintain better jobs or livelihoods. DFID encourages suppliers and their supply chains to comply with ILO standards on Decent Work and it supports a number of initiatives that raise job quality and standards by firms that invest in low income countries. The UK has made expertise from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) available to partner Governments to support better quality labour market monitoring. DFID is continually looking at how best to measure and monitor both the number and quality of jobs that our initiatives support. DFID is working closely on this with partners including CDC, the World Bank, the ILO and the UK Office of National Statistics.

Department for International Development: Staff

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff from her Department will be relocated to other government departments in 2019.

Penny Mordaunt: DFID is currently working with the Cabinet Office to understand the needs of other government departments for short term support and, if required, will seek to match these to the resource identified as being available for redeployment. DFID have already deployed 12 staff members on short-term loan to DEFRA with a further 13 identified to deploy before the end of January 2019.

Ethiopia: Overseas Aid

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much UK aid Ethopia has received in each of the last 10 years.

Harriett Baldwin: Ethiopia has received the following amount of direct UK bilateral official development assistance (ODA) in each of the last 10 years. UK Bilateral ODA spend in Ethiopia, £ million, 2008-2017YearUK Bilateral ODA2008140.22009219.72010263.52011344.52012265.72013329.42014321.72015338.82016334.32017326.1Source: Statistics on International Development

Department for Education

Foster Care

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of implications for his policies of the recommendation in the Staying put: an unfulfilled promise, published by the Fostering Network in November 2018.

Nadhim Zahawi: ‘Staying Put’ has helped thousands of care leavers to transition more smoothly from care to living independently. It provides continuity of relationships and care arrangements, enabling care leavers to benefit from a stable and secure family setting, and to prepare for independence at a more gradual pace, rather than facing a ‘cliff-edge’ at age 18.The government keeps the Staying Put policy under constant review, including through monitoring data from local authorities on take-up by young people, engagement with the sector, and reviewing information from Ofsted inspections of local authorities. Staying Put was also considered as part of the independent fostering review undertaken by Sir Martin Narey and Mark Owers, published in February 2018.The latest data show that increasing numbers of care leavers are living in Staying Put arrangements. In the year ending March 2018, 55% of 18-year-olds chose to Stay Put, which is an increase of 4% on 2017. Furthermore, the data show that 31% of 19-year-olds, and 26% of 20-year-olds were still living with their former foster carers, which represent increases on the previous year.In 2018 to 2019 the government provided £23.3 million to local authorities to implement Staying Put, with a further £23.77 million committed for 2019 to 2020. Decisions on funding beyond March 2020 will be subject to the outcome of the next Spending Review.The government does not believe that introducing a national minimum allowance for Staying Put carers is the right way forward. Unlike children in foster care, young people in Staying Put arrangements are adults, and may be in work or claiming benefits. These financial sources can be used to contribute to the cost of providing the Staying Put arrangement, in a similar way that young people who are still living at home with their parents may contribute to the costs of running the household.The government does not believe a foster carer’s approval should automatically lapse after 12 months if they are a Staying Put carer. We will communicate this message to the sector.

Academies

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many academy schools are awaiting transfer from one Trust to another as a result of a new sponsor not being identified.

Nadhim Zahawi: As at 7 January 2019, 78 academies were in the process of transferring from one trust to another and all of these academies have a new sponsor identified.Academies may transfer to other trusts in a range of circumstances. In some cases, Regional School Commissioners may intervene due to concerns about academy performance and in other cases, an academy may be moving trust as part of an agreed voluntary arrangement. In all cases, a new trust will have been identified before the transfer is approved. For this reason, the department does not have any academies that have been approved for transfer where a new sponsor (or trust) has not been identified.If a transfer is not felt to be the right approach, other improvement activity will take place, including other support arrangements.

Pre-school Education: Salford

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the educational benefits to children of maintained nursery schools in Salford.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department has funded longitudinal studies; the ‘Study of early education and development’ and the ‘Effective pre-school, primary and secondary education project’. These studies show that high quality early education supports children’s development in the short term and has benefits for educational outcomes in the long term. There are no maintained nursery schools in Salford. No specific assessment has been conducted on the educational benefits of local authority run nurseries in Salford.

Department of Education: Brexit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the additional staff required by his Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Anne Milton: The Cabinet Office and the Department for Exiting the European Union are coordinating planning across government for EU exit. Members of staff across the Department for Education work on EU exit issues, including preparations for leaving the EU without a deal, across a range of policy areas as required.In addition to a central coordinating team, EU exit work is embedded and prioritised as necessary across the department’s policy responsibilities. It is therefore not possible to give an accurate figure specifically for work on EU exit issues, including on planning for leaving the EU without a deal.

Children and Young People: Supported Housing

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of appropriate placements for 16 and 17 year olds requiring independent living accommodation.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrally. The department collects annual data from local authorities on looked-after children who are in independent living accommodation, however, no information on the availability of these placements is provided in the data.

Young People: Supported Housing

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the (a) funding and (b) resources available to local authorities for appropriate living situations for 16 and 17 year-olds requiring independent living accommodation.

Nadhim Zahawi: Funding for children’s services is made available through the local government finance settlement, which gives local authorities flexibility to target spending according to local needs and to fulfil their statutory responsibilities, including the provision of appropriate living conditions for 16 and 17 year olds requiring independent living accommodation. Through the settlement, the government has made available over £200 billion across this five-year spending period. Local authorities used this flexibility to spend around £9.4 billion on children and young people’s services in 2017 to 2018.

Schools: Defibrillators

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the announcement on 3 January 2019 that life-saving skills and first-aid education will be compulsory in all schools from 2020, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of installing defibrillators in all schools.

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the availability of defibrillators in schools.

Nadhim Zahawi: There is no legal requirement for schools to purchase an automated external defibrillator (AED), but the government encourages them to do so as part of their first aid equipment.School-age children are at a relatively low risk of cardiac arrest but to ensure that any risk, no matter how small, is minimised, AEDs are currently available for schools and other education providers in the UK to purchase through the NHS Supply Chain at a reduced cost. These arrangements are available to all UK schools, including academies and independent schools, sixth-form colleges, FE institutions and early years settings (including holiday and out-of-school providers).The government has produced guidance for schools on buying, installing and using an AED, which can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/automated-external-defibrillators-aeds-in-schools.

Special Educational Needs: Autism

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average waiting time was for a child to be assessed for an Education, Health Care Plan after receiving a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in (a) the London Borough of Southwark, (b) London and (c) England  in each of the last five years.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrally.Under the Children and Families Act 2014, parents and schools are able to apply for an assessment for an Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan without the need for a diagnosis to have already been made.Data is collected by the department on assessments for EHC plans that are completed within their 20 week target. This is published in the ‘Statements of SEN and EHC plans: England, 2018’ publication available here – https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2018 .

Department of Education: Disadvantaged

John Lamont: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of (a) how widespread social exclusion is in rural areas and (b) the effect of his Department’s policies on social exclusion in rural areas.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department aims to provide every child and young person with world-class education, training and care regardless of their background or where they come from.Opportunity Areas (OAs) in England are at the heart of our work to learn what works best in areas with entrenched social mobility barriers so that we can roll out successful approaches across the country. We chose these 12 areas to make sure that there was a geographical spread, allowing us to test approaches in a rural context as well as in urban and coastal locations.Outside of the work undertaken in OAs, the department has made no assessment of social exclusion in rural areas. However, we are aware of the contribution that schools make to rural communities, which is why we support the presumption against the closure of rural schools in England.

Training

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his estimated total cost to the public purse is of the national retraining scheme.

Anne Milton: The National Retraining Scheme, which was announced in the Autumn Budget 2017, will support adults to retrain as the economy changes.The Autumn Budget 2018 allocated £100 million of new government funding for the testing and development of the National Retraining Scheme as well as rolling out initial elements of the scheme for first users in 2019.

Curriculum

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Times Educational Supplement article of 9 January 2018 entitled Heads fear Ofsted will penalise three-year GCSEs, whether his Department has recently issued guidance to Ofsted on the duration of Key Stages 3 and 4.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Children: Social Services

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of planned funding for children's services in meeting future demand.

Nadhim Zahawi: All future funding for local government will be agreed in the Spending Review that my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister and my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer have announced will take place this year. For the financial year 2019 to 2020, the local government finance settlement that was published in December provides local government with core spending power of £46.4 billion. The Autumn Budget also gave an additional £410 million for local authorities to spend on adult and children’s services.

Schools: Voluntary Work

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made on the number of (a) parent and (b) non-parent volunteers in schools who have had safeguarding checks in each of the last 10 years.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to exempt parent volunteers from criminal record checks; and whether he has had any discussions with his Australian counterpart on the effectiveness of introducing such a scheme in that country.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of volunteers in schools in each of the last 10 years; and how many of those volunteers are parents.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of parent volunteers in schools; and whether he plans to reduce obstacles to volunteering in schools.

Nadhim Zahawi: Volunteers play an important role in supporting children in many of our schools. As decisions whether to engage volunteers are made locally by schools, the department does not collect data on the number of volunteers in schools or data on safeguarding checks carried out for volunteers. There is, therefore, no data held on which to base an estimate of safeguarding checks carried out.The department’s statutory safeguarding guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, makes clear that any volunteer should not be deployed to work unsupervised with children without appropriate checks. Where schools decide that a DBS criminal record check is appropriate for a volunteer, these can be obtained free of any charge from DBS. There are no plans currently to change these arrangements. There is a legal requirement for a DBS criminal record check for school governors, which are predominantly volunteer roles, including any parent governors. School governing boards have a key role in providing clarity of vision, and promoting the ethos and direction of the school and setting the school's aims and policies. DBS and other pre-appointment safeguarding checks, provide reassurance to the governing board that an individual is not disqualified from holding office as a governor and is suitable for the position.

School Meals

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on the cost of school meals.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department is working closely across government to consider the potential effects of leaving the EU without a deal, including the cost of school meals.

Pupils: Mental Health

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support pupils who experience mental health problems at school.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Child Minding

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childminder agencies there are; and how many childminders are members of childminder agencies.

Nadhim Zahawi: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Schools: Vocational Education

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of schools that are compliant with section 2 of the Technical and Further Education Act 2017 that requires schools to ensure a range of FE providers have access to pupils from year 8 to year 13 to provide information on technical education and apprenticeships.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria his Department uses to monitor the compliance of schools with section 2 of the Technical and Further Education Act 2017 that requires schools to ensure a range of FE providers have access to pupils from year 8 to year 13 to provide information on technical education and apprenticeships.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with (a) Careers and Enterprise Company, (b) Career Development Institute, (c) Careers England and (d) other representatives of careers advisers on the im implementation of section 2 of the  Technical and Further Education Act 2017.

Anne Milton: ​The department introduced the ‘Baker Clause’ in January 2018 so that young people can find out about the full range of opportunities available to them in technical education. The Department for Education does not centrally hold the number of schools that are compliant with the ‘Baker Clause’ but we did carry out a survey with the Association of Employment and Learning Providers in June 2018 to find out more about the early impact of the new law. Just over three quarters (76%) of the 75 providers surveyed stated that the duty is being partially complied with in their area. Just under a fifth (19%) said it was not being complied with at all. The remaining 5% said schools in their area are fully compliant. A more recent study by the Institute for Public Policy Research, published on 9 January, found that 70% of providers say that it is difficult to access schools in their area and 31% say that the situation has improved in the last year.I hosted a roundtable with schools and providers in November 2018 and officials continue to discuss with a range of education and careers representatives how to improve compliance with the Baker Clause.​Ofsted looks at the implementation of the Baker Clause on school inspections. Ofsted’s current school inspection handbook (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/730127/School_inspection_handbook_section_5_270718.pdf.) sets out that inspectors will take into account careers guidance provided by secondary schools when making their judgement on the personal development, behaviour and welfare of pupils. Inspectors look at how well schools provide impartial careers guidance to help and prepare pupils make informed choices about the next stage of their education, employment, self-employment or training.

Disabled Students' Allowances: Part-time Education

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 19 December to Question 203781 on Disabled Students Allowances: Part-time Education, if he will publish a breakdown  expenditure under that allowance in (a) 2017-18 and (b) 2016-17.

Chris Skidmore: As at August 2018, provisional data provided by the Student Loans Company (SLC), shows that £2 million has so far been paid to English part-time students in Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA) for equipment. This compares to £1.4 million paid at the same point in the academic year 2016/17.Final data for 2016/17 provided by the SLC shows £1.6 million was paid to English domiciled part-time students in DSA for equipment.

Disabled Students' Allowances: Part-time Education

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December to Question 203781 on Disabled Students Allowances: Part-time Education, from which budget was the additional funding for the Disabled Students Allowances in 2017-18 allocated.

Chris Skidmore: Each year, as part of the Main and Supplementary Estimates process, Parliament approves the total spend against specific objectives (within agreed budgetary limits). It is against these limits that the departmental group, as guided by HM Treasury’s spending control framework, is held accountable for its performance and the use of taxpayers’ funds.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many civil servants in his Department are currently working on planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how many have been moved from other projects to work on those plans.

David Rutley: Over 80% of Defra’s agenda is affected by the UK’s departure from the European Union and as a result many roles across the Defra group are now supporting work relating to our departure from the EU, either directly or indirectly. We are unable to disaggregate between ‘deal’ and ‘no deal’ planning work. As at the end of November, Defra group has recruited over 2300 staff including fixed term appointments, interims and staff redeployed from elsewhere in the group, to work on the UK’s departure from the EU. Over 2100 are already in post with the remainder working through pre-employment processes. Departments continually review workforce plans, reprioritise and assess changing needs. At the same time, the Civil Service as a whole is working to ensure that EU departure implementation is carried out to high quality without impacting public service delivery across the whole of government.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many projects his Department has put on hold due to the requirements of planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

David Rutley: Defra has received £410m of funding for 2019/20 to deliver the vital work of the Department to prepare for our departure from the EU, including deal and no deal activity. Over 80% of Defra’s work is affected by our departure from the EU, so by necessity many existing staff are also working on preparations for leaving the EU. Reprioritisation is an ongoing process and will continue to be reviewed to take account of evolving circumstances.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the additional staff required by his Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

David Rutley: Over 80% of Defra’s agenda is affected by the UK’s departure from the European Union and as a result many roles across the Defra group are now supporting work related to our departure from the EU, either directly or indirectly. We are unable to disaggregate between ‘deal’ and ‘no deal’ planning work. As at the end of November, Defra group has recruited over 2300 staff including fixed term appointments, interims and staff redeployed from elsewhere in the group, to work on the UK’s departure from the EU. Over 2100 are already in post with the remainder working through pre-employment processes. We are continuing to recruit further additional staff to support work related to leaving the EU and we are currently advertising or selecting to fill an additional 250 posts. Resourcing activity is expected to be on-going through 2019/20 however we are currently in the process of finalising our total people resource requirements for the year following receipt in late December of a further £410m of Government funding to enable us to prepare to leave the EU on either a deal or a no deal basis.

Dogs: Pet Travel Scheme

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effectiveness of carriers enforcing checks on dogs traveling under the Pet Travel Scheme.

David Rutley: Engagement at the border with major transport carriers has indicated that they are committed to preventing illegal imports of pet animals. Some carriers have already instituted their own measures to reduce carriage of pet animals. This includes P&O Ferries refusing accounts to commercial dog importers and Eurotunnel limiting the number of dogs that can be transported in one vehicle. Carriers have been willing to work with us to increase enforcement through additional training, checks and controls.Each carrier is subject to quality assurance checks including a minimum of one full audit per year to ensure compliance with the procedures agreed with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) set out in the carriers’ Required Method of Operation (RMOP). The number of quality assurance visits is based on volumes, results of previous visits, performance and any high risk considerations. Furthermore, APHA field teams carry out liaison visits and are in regular communication with carriers. If any non-compliance is found, extra checks will be completed as part of recorded follow-on actions.Observations made by APHA on pet travel, including levels of compliance and carrier knowledges and behaviours, show good awareness of pet travel rules.

Farmers: Advisory Services

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to increase access to independent agronomic advice for farmers in advance of proposed changes in agricultural legislation under the Agriculture Bill 2017-19.

George Eustice: There are already a range of independent organisations that offer agronomic advice to farmers. This includes the Association of Independent Crop Consultants who provide advice to growers covering 3.5 million acres in the UK.   In terms of designing future schemes, we will work closely with farmers, stakeholders and other organisations to consider the role of specialist advice in helping land managers deliver environmental benefits through the new Environmental land management (ELM) scheme.

Plastics: Recycling

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on a deposit return scheme.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Policy officials continue to engage regularly with the Scottish Government. Ministers met in July 2018 and are due to meet again in February 2019.

Fishing Gear: Labelling

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing tagging for trawler fishing nets to identify the source of sea litter when those nets are washed up onshore.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is committed to reducing plastic litter in the marine environment from all sources, including fishing. Governance is in place to address waste, including plastic, and there are voluntary schemes run here in the UK to encourage good practice. For the purposes of fisheries enforcement, guidance is in place that requires masters of a fishing vessel using static gear or beam trawls to mark their fishing gear so that it is identifiable. If all or part of their gear is lost they must attempt to retrieve it as soon as possible. This would include trawler fishing nets. If they are unable to retrieve their lost gear they must notify the UK fisheries authorities. At the 33rd Session of the Committee on Fisheries for the Food and Agricultural Organization, the issue of marine litter, and in particular lost or discarded fishing gear, was discussed at length. The UK supports the Committee’s endorsement of voluntary guidelines for the marking of fishing gear, which assist fisheries management organisations such as regional fisheries management organisations in the development and application of gear marking policy. Work is now underway to begin the development of an extended producer responsibility scheme for fishing gear containing plastic. This will require producers to take responsibility for gear at the end of life stage, and schemes will be in place across the EU under the European Plastics Strategy.

Special Protection Areas

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2018 to Question 196865 on Special Protection Areas, whether the Bowland Fells SPA will be reclassified to include the lesser black-backed gull before Natural England issues its supplementary advice to the site’s objectives in spring 2019.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: No.

Air Pollution

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to ministerial directions issued to 23 local authorities on 27 July 2017 alongside the 2017 UK Air Quality Plan, which of those local authorities has submitted (a) a final plan (b) a draft plan and (c) neither a final nor draft plan to his Department; and on what date each respective plan was received by his Department.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The 23 local authorities are working together in eleven groupings. Eight out of the eleven local authority groupings submitted a plan by the 31 December 2018. They are currently under consideration. The local authorities that have submitted a plan are Bath & NE Somerset Council; Basildon & Rochford District councils; Surrey Heath, Guildford and Rushmoor councils; Fareham Borough Council; Gateshead, North Tyneside and Newcastle City councils, Middlesbrough Borough Council, Sheffield City and Rotherham Borough Council, and New Forest District Council. The local authority groupings which have not submitted are Bristol City Council, Coventry City Council and Greater Manchester councils. Ministers are considering the suitable action for those that have and haven’t provided plans.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to lift the minimum five hectare qualification for receiving farm subsidy payments.

George Eustice: We have no plans to remove the five hectare minimum qualification for receiving Direct Payments under the Basic Payment Scheme in England. We will pay Direct Payments for the 2019 scheme year on the same basis as for 2018. We also plan to allocate the money paid in Direct Payments for 2020 in much the same way that we do now. We will, however, look to make simplifications to make it easier to apply for and administer Direct Payments to increase value for money. We will do this as soon as we can, and in line with the terms of the implementation period. The future agriculture policy outlined in the Agriculture Bill does not envisage area based direct payments in the longer term.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Brexit

Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to his Department for financial year 2018-19 for planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how much of that funding has been spent.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department is tasked with successfully delivering the UK’s exit from the European Union. A key element of this is ensuring preparation for all possible scenarios, including leaving the EU without a deal.Budget 2018 confirmed an additional £500 million of funding from the reserve for 2019-20, meaning the government will have invested over £4 billion in preparing for EU exit since 2016.It is not however possible to attribute the Department’s costs to specific scenario planning such as “no deal”. This is because the Department does not record expenditure or forecasts against potential outcomes; it records expenditure and forecasts on a functional basis.The Main Estimate for 2018-19, which details the budgetary limits for the Department, can be found on GOV.UK. The Department has been allocated a delegated expenditure limit of £93.0m for 2018-19, which covers both ‘deal’ and ‘no-deal’ scenarios. This is just one element of cross-Whitehall spend.

Brexit

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, to publish the legal advice it has received in respect of leaving the European Economic Area Agreement [1994] specifically regarding Her Majesty's Government's legal submissions to the High Court in the case of R (Yalland and Wilding) v SSEU [2017] that Article 126 as giving rise to termination of the EEA Agreement ipso jure; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robin Walker: As a matter of course, the Government does not publish legal advice.The EEA Agreement only applies to the UK in its capacity as an EU Member State. The EEA Agreement will no longer operate in respect of the UK when we leave the EU. However, at the March European Council we agreed with the EU that the UK is to be treated as a Member State for the purposes of international agreements for the duration of the implementation period. This includes the EEA Agreement. Alongside the Withdrawal Agreement, the EU undertook to notify its treaty partners that the UK is to be treated as a Member State for the purposes of EU international agreements during the implementation period.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Staff

Chris Stephens: To ask the Attorney General, how many staff were employed in his Department on (a) 20 December 2018 and (b) 23 June 2016.

Robert Buckland: The table below shows the number of staff employed by the Attorney General’s Office on 20 December 2018 and 23 June 2016 respectively: Employment Type23 June 201620 December 2018Permanent1516Fixed Term11Loan In2424Secondment In35Agency Worker01Total4347

Attorney General: Brexit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Attorney General, what estimate he has made of the additional staff required by his Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Robert Buckland: The Attorney General’s Office, a small ministerial department, is recruiting four staff members (full time equivalent) specifically to support EU Exit in 2019/20 if the UK leaves the EU with or without a deal. This is in addition to the work ongoing from existing resources.

Offences Against Children: Prosecutions

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Attorney General, how many cases of sexual abuse of children by sports coaches are currently being prosecuted.

Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of defendants who are, or who were, sports coaches. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.

Brexit

Frank Field: To ask the Attorney General, if he will provide a written statement to the House on the legal implications of any potential changes the Government may negotiate to the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU in relation to the sovereignty of decision-making by Parliament on the Northern Irish backstop.

Mr Geoffrey Cox: The Government understands the legitimate desire of Parliament to understand the legal implications of the Withdrawal Agreement. I have today written to the Prime Minister about an exchange of letters between the Prime Minister and the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission. Given the exceptional circumstances surrounding the vote on the Withdrawal Agreement and the Government's commitment to provide Parliament with information to assist it to understand the Agreement, I have agreed that this letter should be publishedIt is available online here and copies have been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Brexit

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether his Department plans to tender to private contractors any work relating to prepartions for leaving the EU without a deal.

Nigel Adams: No.

Brexit: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, with reference to the Ministers Quarterly Transparency Return July to September 2018, published on 19 December 2018, if he will publish the names of the (a) the attendees of the expert panel on 17 October 2018 to discuss EU exit issues, and (b) the outcomes of that meeting.

Alun Cairns: My Department’s Quarterly Transparency Return for July to September 2018 recorded in error a meeting of my EU Expert Panel on 17 October. The meeting took place on 17 September and this has now been corrected. The September meeting enabled me to engage directly with key stakeholders in Wales on the progress of EU exit work and to hear their views. We discussed a wide range of EU exit matters including the government’s white papers and technical notices. The meeting was attended by representatives from the following organisations: Farmers Union of WalesNational Farmers Union CymruSouth and Mid Wales Chamber of CommerceSnowdonia Enterprise ZoneWales Council for Voluntary ActionCountry Landowners Association CymruConfederation of British Industry (Wales)Welsh Local Government AssociationWales Environment Link

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Education

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of education programmes in prisons are delivered by charities and social enterprises.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of education programmes in prisons are funded by charitable sources.

Rory Stewart: The Department does not hold this information centrally, obtaining it would require contacting and collating information from all prisons in England and Wales, which could only be done at disproportionate cost. We very much value engagement by charities and social enterprises and expect both the opportunities for this key sector to engage with the prison education agenda, and the practical ability of it to do so, to increase significantly when our reforms come fully into effect from April 2019. These reforms are empowering governors to determine their curriculum, how it is organised and arranged, and who delivers it. Our new prison education Dynamic Purchasing System, which already contains more than 170 suppliers wishing to deliver education services in prisons, will help governors shape an education service that reflects the particular needs of their establishment.

CAFCASS: Legal Representation

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children are currently being represented by children and family court advisory and support service guardians in courts in England.

Lucy Frazer: In total, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) is acting as a Guardian for 25,440 children (22,007 in public law and 3,433 in private law Rule 6.4 cases).

Family Courts: Domestic Violence

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how often the judiciary in family courts including the lay bench have mandatory specialist training on domestic abuse.

Lucy Frazer: Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, responsibility for the training of the judiciary rests with the Lord Chief Justice as Head of the Judiciary. This is exercised through the Judicial College under judicial direction. The Lord Chief Justice requires judges and magistrates to attend induction training before sitting in Private Family law cases, which includes a module on dealing with domestic abuse, and thereafter attend continuation training for the family jurisdiction, which also includes a domestic abuse module, on a minimum of a three-year cycle. Judicial guidance on domestic abuse in child arrangements and contact cases is provided by Practice Direction 12J and vulnerable persons’ participation by Practice Direction 3AA which are available under the procedure rules on the justice website. The Judicial College produces two core training packs on domestic abuse specifically for magistrates: one for the criminal jurisdiction, and one for the family jurisdiction about domestic abuse and its effects, including the effect of domestic abuse on children. The Family Court Bench Book to support magistrates was updated and re-published in 2018.

Social Security Benefits: Blaenau Gwent

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2018 to Question 195064, what the maximum length of time was between the date when a First Tier Tribunal personal independence payment appeal was lodged and heard for cases involving claimants in Blaenau Gwent during 2017-18.

Lucy Frazer: This information is not held centrally. HMCTS statistics are not calculated from receipt of the appeal to the hearing, but from receipt of the appeal to the disposal of the case. An appeal is not necessarily disposed of at its first hearing. The final disposal decision on the appeal may be reached after an earlier hearing had been adjourned (which may be directed by the judge for a variety of reasons, such as to seek further evidence), or after an earlier hearing date had been postponed (again, for a variety of reasons, often at the request of the appellant). An appeal may also have been decided at an earlier date by the First-tier Tribunal, only for the case to have gone on to the Upper Tribunal, to be returned once again to the First-tier, for its final disposal.

Divorce: Sexuality

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what comparison he has made of the divorce rates of married heterosexual and married same-sex couples.

Lucy Frazer: The Office for National Statistics has published data on the rates of divorce between opposite sex and same sex couples at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/vitalstatisticspopulationandhealthreferencetables. The most recent data is for 2017. These rates are not directly comparable, given that no same sex marriages can date back before the first formations in 2014. The first divorces between same sex couples took place in 2015.

Business: Fraud

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish the results of his Department's consultation on the creation of a new offence of failure to prevent economic crime.

Lucy Frazer: The Call for Evidence on Corporate Criminal Liability for Economic Crime contained a number of different options for reform, including a proposal to extend the failure to prevent offence to wider economic crimes other than bribery or tax evasion. The Government’s response will be issued in 2019.

Domestic Violence: Prosecutions

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many fact-finding hearings where domestic abuse is alleged have been conducted since the revised Practice Direction PD12J – Domestic Abuse was introduced on 2 October 2017.

Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice does not hold the requested data. Family court statistics are published on a quarterly basis in the Family Court Statistics Quarterly, which is publicly available on gov.uk. However, this data does not distinguish between fact-finding hearings and the number of hearings overall.

Prisons: Contracts

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions internal bids have been evaluated as providing the best quality and value for money compared to private-sector bids for the operation of prisons since 1999.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice does not hold information prior to 2009 about internal bids relating to the operation of prisons as previous competitions were the responsibility of the Home Office and undertaken by them.Since 2009, there has been one instance where the Public Sector has been awarded a contract (in the form of a Service Level Agreement) and that was for HMP Buckley Hall in 2011.

Prisons: Contracts

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2018 to Question 194129 on Prisons: Contracts, what steps he is taking to ensure transparency in the assessment of (a) quality and (b) value for money of potential operators’ bids compared to the public-sector benchmark.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has recently launched a competition to establish a framework of prison operators, from which the operators of the new prisons at Wellingborough and Glen Parva will be selected.The competition will use a ‘public sector benchmark’, against which the quality and cost of potential operators’ bids will be assessed. The public sector benchmark was developed in consultation with subject matter experts across HMPPS and directly informed the delivery requirements including cost and quality thresholds that form part of the draft contractual documentation for the competition. Where bids received do not meet these thresholds, there will be no contract award and the public sector will act as the provider.The MoJ will, in accordance with the Public Contract Regulations and relevant Government policies, take into consideration the past record and performance of companies involved in the tender process before considering any bids. We will make sure that the tender process ensures that the companies bidding for any of the contracts to operate new prisons have the capability, credibility, legitimacy and capacity to run the contracts effectively. The evaluation methodology included in the framework competition documentation has been designed to establish the most robust bids based on published quality, value and affordability criteria, and compared to a public sector comparator for each call off contract. Following the conclusion of the tender process any contract awarded will be published.

Prisons: Standards

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how often HMPPS Controllers are required to submit written updates on their establishments.

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what reports HMPPS Controllers are required to submit regarding staffing levels at their establishments.

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, , what processes are in place to enable HMPPS Controllers to report concerns over staffing levels at their establishments.

Rory Stewart: The controller at each privately managed prison has regular review meetings with the contractor against a range of performance indicators that will reflect numbers of staff in post, recruitment, training, sickness, and attrition. Any concerns in relation to these performance indicators, including concerns about staffing levels to delivery an appropriate standard, are discussed at these meetings. Where action is needed, progress is monitored by the Controller and escalated within HMPPS where appropriate action can be taken in accordance with the contract. Controllers submit contractual performance information monthly on the contract that the provider operates. Controllers report to a Senior Contract Manager and are supported by Commercial Contract Managers. As we have previously stated all staffing matters, including the responsibility for ensuring the availability of sufficiently trained and experienced staff to maintain safe and decent prisons, lies with Contractors. There is no requirement in the contracts to agree staffing levels with the Ministry of Justice and as a consequence the controller is not responsible for staffing levels in the contract that the provider operates. Private providers continue to play an important role in the prison estate and I can assure you that performance of all providers is closely monitored and we will not hesitate to take action where standards fall short.

Prisoners: Homelessness

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people entering prison were homeless before custody in each year since 2012.

Rory Stewart: Table 1 below provides data on the number of prisoners that declared their accommodation status as of ‘No Fixed Abode’ on their reception into custody, April 2016 – June 2018. The system for collecting this information did not exist prior to 2015 and so data for 2012 – 2015 is not available. Table 1 Year201620172018 (Jan - Jun)Total prisoner receptions into custody (Basic Custody Screening Tool)105,782103,22550,198Number of homeless prisoners24,94226,70013,755Percentage23.58%25.87%27.40% NotesThe Basic Custody Screening Tool (BCS) is completed on entry to custody for all prisoners. It therefore will include a mix of those received into custody on remand and those sentenced from court. Using just the BCS, there is no way to determine which of those received into custody on remand were released un-convicted, therefore it is important to stress that this data covers prisoners, and can’t be used to describe offenders, as some of those counted will ultimately not have been found guilty of any offence.The BCS Part 1 is completed by the prison with no input from a Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) as they complete Part 2 of the BCS.These questions from the BCS Part 1 are recorded as per the prisoner’s answers and are not assessed.The total number of prisoners shown is for the number of fully completed BCS Part 1s for each year, based on the Reception Date for each prisoner.A proportion of prisoners will enter custody multiple times each year and for this PQ all responses have been included as a prisoner may provide different answers to these questions over time.  The Government published its Rough Sleeping Strategy in August 2018, launching a £100 million initiative to reduce and ultimately eliminate rough sleeping across England. As part of this strategy, MoJ and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), will be investing approximately £6m in a pilot scheme to support ex-offenders secure suitable accommodation upon release; the pilots will operate in HMPs Pentonville, Bristol and Leeds. Staff in both Community Rehabilitation Companies and the National Probation Service continue to work together with local authorities and other providers of accommodation with the aim of ensuring all offenders under our supervision have accommodation, especially when they are released from prison.

Offenders: Employment

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders entered employment within six weeks of the end of their sentence in 2018.

Rory Stewart: We will be publishing data in due course on the number of offenders who entered employment on release from custody for the period 2018/19 as part of the Community performance release.

Offenders: Qualifications

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders who finished their sentence in 2018 did not have the equivalent of five GCSEs graded A* to C.

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners released in 2018 did not complete any education or employment training while in prison.

Rory Stewart: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The Department for Education publishes data on prison education participation and completion rates and details on the academic years 2010/11 to 2017/18 can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/761349/201718_Nov_MAIN_OLASS_Particpation_FINALv1.xlsx

Prisons: Unmanned Air Vehicles

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the contraband in prisons that enters prisons via drone.

Rory Stewart: It is inherently difficult to estimate the proportion of contraband that enters prisons through different routes, including drones, as we can only base this on what is found; often this is in cells or wings where the method of conveyance is unclear. We are taking decisive steps to tackle the use of drones as a supply route for organised criminals to bring illicit items such as drugs and mobile phones into prisons. Prisons that experience high numbers of drone incursions are receiving a wide range of support, including prison-specific vulnerability assessments and joint policing operations to arrest drone operators. We are also putting physical counter-measures, including netting and window grilles.

Prisons: Discipline

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many acts of concerted indiscipline have there been in prison in each year since 2010.

Rory Stewart: Figures are held by the department from 2014 onwards and are included below. Concerted Indiscipline is defined as an incident involving two or more prisoners acting against the requirements or the regime of the establishment. Not every Concerted Indiscipline relates to a violent incident as these figures include both passive acts of protest such as “sit down protests” as well as active incidents such as violent disorder. 2014 – 1642015 – 1962016 – 2102017 – 2332018 – 140 We do not tolerate violence or disruptive behaviour in our prisons. This is why we’ve recruited 4,300 additional officers and are spending an extra £70m on safety, security and the fabric of the prison estate. Drugs are a major factor in fuelling violence in prisons, and this investment will help fund a range of new security measures to stop them getting in, including airport style security, improved searching techniques and phone-blocking technology. We are also committed to ensuring our prison officers have the tools they need to do the job safely by rolling out body worn cameras, ‘police-style’ handcuffs and restraints, and PAVA incapacitant spray. Fundamentally, however, the key to safe prisons is the relationships between prisoners and prison officers, which is why we are investing in training and support for officers to further develop a consistent, disciplined and humane approach to behaviour management.

Family Courts: Legal Representation

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many parents had no representation at a family court case relating to a child in each year since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prisons: Drugs

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many mandatory drug tests have taken place in prison in each month in the last five years.

Rory Stewart: The information requested is provided in the attached table. In September 2016 we became the first prison service in the world to introduce innovative mandatory drug tests for psychoactive substances, a significant step in tackling the supply and use of them. We have recently formed a Drugs Taskforce working with law enforcement and health partners across government to reduce the prevalence of drugs in our prisons. The Drugs Taskforce has three overarching objectives; restricting supply, reducing demand and building recovery. The Taskforce is developing a national Drug Strategy and Operational Guidance, which will provide all prisons with strategic direction and examples of best practice to support them in tackling drugs.



Table
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Witnesses

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many witnesses have received support from the court-based witness service in each of the last five years.

Edward Argar: This Government is committed to ensuring that both prosecution and defence witnesses receive timely and effective emotional and practical support to help them give their best evidence in criminal courts in England and Wales. The number of witnesses who have received support from the Ministry of Justice grant funded court based Witness Service in the last five years as reported by the provider is set out in the table below: YearNumber of witnesses supportedProvider2013/14198,872Victim Support2014/15193,048Victim Support2015/16178,320Citizens Advice2016/17156,407Citizens Advice2017/18148,592Citizens Advice

Ministry of Justice: Public Consultation

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost has been of each consultation conducted by his Department since 2010.

Edward Argar: The information requested is not held centrally.

Prisoners: Personal Property

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total value is of compensation claimed for loss or damage to prisoners' property held by the prison service in each of the last five years.

Rory Stewart: The total compensation payments made to prisoners for loss or damage to their property in respect of successful claims in the last five financial years are shown in the table below. The information held is in respect of public sector prisons in England and Wales and does not include private (contracted out) prisons.Financial YearsTotal value of successful payment claims2013-2014£152,9142014-2015£313,3472015-2016£190,1912016-2017£199,0862017-2018£220,053To note within the table: 1. The figures have been drawn from our central recording system and although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected on occasions, may be subject to the inaccuracies in any large-scale recording system.2. Some of the value of payments made will include an element of legal costs and the figures are subject to rounding.We successfully defend two thirds of all litigation claims brought against us by prisoners. A programme of work is under way to prevent the causes of claims to allow us to better protect taxpayers’ money.

Post-mortems

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Chief Coroner has plans to issue new guidance on second post-mortems.

Edward Argar: I understand that the Chief Coroner intends to issue guidance on second post-mortems later this year.

Criminal Injuries Compensation: Sexual Offences

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims of sexual abuse have had their applications for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme rejected because they had an unspent criminal conviction in 2018.

Edward Argar: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 (the Scheme), which was approved by Parliament, sets out that awards will be withheld where the applicant has an unspent conviction of a kind specifically identified by the Scheme. This includes custodial sentences and community orders. In the calendar year 2018, the number of finalised applications refused because of unspent convictions where the application was made as a result of sexual assault or abuse was 179. The government recently announced a review of the Scheme which will include the consideration of the rule relating to unspent criminal convictions.

Road Traffic Offences: Prosecutions

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions for careless and inconsiderate driving under the Road Traffic Act 1988 were made by each police force in each year since 30 September 2008.

Rory Stewart: Data held by the Ministry of Justice relates to the number of prosecutions broken down by the police force area where the defendant was dealt with. The number of prosecutions for careless and inconsiderate driving under the Road Traffic Act 1988 broken down by the police force area where the defendants were dealt with in court over the last decade is in the public domain. This information is in the Motoring data tool found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2017. For prosecutions, ensure ‘2: Magistrates’ Court’ is selected in the ‘Court Type’ filter. Quarterly figures within individual calendar years can be examined by opening the field list and placing the ‘Quarter’ variable under columns. Move the ‘Motoring offence group’ variable to Filters, and filter it to ‘24. Careless driving offences (excl. mobile phone offences)’. This offence group includes 'Driving without due care and attention', 'Failure to comply with an order to stop a moving vehicle' and 'Other careless driving offences and racing'. Drag ‘Police Force Area’ in to the rows section.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Written Questions

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to answer Question 189621 on the membership of the Financial, Professional and Education Services Business Council tabled on 9 November 2018 by the hon. Member for Bristol East.

Oliver Dowden: I responded to Question 189621 on 09/01/19. The response can be found here:https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-11-09/189621/

Government Departments: Social Media

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will place in the Library all social media adverts that the Government has used to promote the Prime Minister's EU Withdrawal Agreement.

Chloe Smith: These social media adverts cannot be added to the Library as they were video assets, which the House of Commons Library does not accept/record.

Cabinet Office: Brexit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the additional staff required by his Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Mr David Lidington: Departments continually review workforce plans, reprioritise and assess changing needs, which includes identification and cessation of non-priority work where appropriate. We have accelerated our plans, and at the same time, the Civil Service as a whole is working to ensure that EU Exit Implementation is carried out to high quality without impacting public service delivery across the whole of government. The Cabinet Office has staff working on EU exit implementation for a range of scenarios in the interests of preparedness. Cabinet Office are currently looking to increase the numbers of staff trained to be part of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat to form a flexible pool to be used if and when required. This work is ongoing and the number of staff who will be part of this work is not yet available.

Cervical Cancer

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in each of the last five years.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
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Pay: Lewisham

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will estimate the number of people in each parliamentary constituency in Lewisham borough who are paid (a) the national minimum wage and (b) the London living wage.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
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Offences against Children

Neil Coyle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of crimes committed against children in each of the last five years.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
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Pay: Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the number of people in each parliamentary constituency in Havering that are paid the (a) national minimum wage and (b) national living wage.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
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Armed Conflict

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the capacity of the UK to counter non-military attacks.

Mr David Lidington: The Government rigorously assesses the capacity of the UK to counter non-military attacks through the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) process. In light of the ever-changing national security environment and in support of the SDSR 2015, the National Security Council (NSC) commissioned a focused National Security Capability Review (NSCR), published in March 2018. This set out how we could develop, deliver and deploy our considerable national security capabilities to maximum collective effect to address the increasing and diversifying threats to our national security, including from non-military attacks. The NSCR also introduced the Fusion Doctrine, which seeks to use our full range of security, economic and influence capabilities to maximum effect in pursuit of our national security goals.

Committee On the Grant of Honours Decorations and Medals

Layla Moran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish the independent membership and terms of reference of the Advisory Military Sub-Committee of the Honours and Decorations Committee.

Chloe Smith: The membership of and terms of reference for the Advisory Military Sub-Committee will be published on gov.uk when they have been finalised, and agreed by incoming members.

Cabinet Office: Billing

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many representations his Department received from its suppliers on late payments in the 2017-18 financial year.

Oliver Dowden: The Cabinet Office does not hold this information centrally.

Interserve

Chris Stephens: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what contingency plans his Department has made to prepare for the possible insolvency of Interserve; and what meetings the Government has had with relevant trade union representatives to discuss such plans and staff concerns.

Oliver Dowden: The public can be reassured that we monitor the financial health of all of our strategic suppliers, including Interserve, and have regular discussions with the company’s management. We are vigilant about monitoring our reliance on individual suppliers and are committed to ensuring that robust contingency plans are in place for all essential services Further measures announced by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in June 2018 to promote a healthy and diverse marketplace of suppliers for government contracts include requiring key suppliers to develop ‘living wills’ which will allow contingency plans to be rapidly enacted if needed. The Government is a customer of Interserve, not a director or shareholder of the company and Interserve’s relationship with its employees and trade unions is a matter for the company.

Civil Service: EU Nationals

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the (a) number of EU nationals who are employed by the civil service in each Government Department and (b) proportion of civil servants employed by each such Department who are EU nationals.

Mr David Lidington: The number of non-UK EU citizens employed within the Civil Service is not consistently collected across Government, therefore it is not possible to provide the number of EU nationals employed by the Civil Service in each Government department or the proportion of civil servants employed by each department.